The Hero's Brother
by Kyuubi666
Summary: On the night of the Kyuubi's attack, Kushina gave birth to a pair of twins. Minato survived the Shiki Fuujin with the Kyuubi sealed inside Jin, who is proclaimed a hero. However, Naruto grows up neglected and alone. Minato Bashing! Dark Naruto!
1. Jealousy of the Envious

The Hero's Brother Chapter One

Disclaimer : Naruto does not belong to me and whatsoever

Author's Notes : Hey guys. Now, this story is slightly different from my other stories. Naruto is not gifted with a Bloodline Trait, nor does he have a ridiculously powerful teacher. What he does have is talent, pure and raw talent.

- T.H.E - H.E.R.O.'S - B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

"Uwaah! Uwaah!" A baby's crying pierced the deafening silence of Konoha's Hospital. (That's how I interpret a baby's cries in writing.) The Yondaime Hokage, who was waiting outside the emergency room stood up with an anxious look on his rather charming face.

After more than three hours of sitting in a teal-colored bench outside the emergency surgery room, Minato was more than glad to see the 'In Surgery' sign above the two sided door that led into the emergency room, lit off.

A busty blonde wearing a green colored surgery outfit walked out of the room, while taking off her face mask.

"Tsunade, how is my wife and my son?" Minato immediately asked as Tsunade wiped the sweat off her forehead, but she grinned nonetheless. "The operation was a success. Congratulations, you are now a father of two sons."

The Yondaime's face lit up when he noticed something "Two... sons?" Tsunade merely laughed a little "Yes, Kushina had twins!"

Minato looked shocked for a moment before a serious look dorned his face. "Tsunade, I have to see my wife now." The blonde looked confused at the seriousness Minato was emiting and said nothing while leading him into a emergency ward that Kushina was just moved to.

Upon entering the room, Tsunade and Minato could see her obvious weariness and, similar to Minato, a serious look.

The Yondaime, looked down, unable to face his wife. Tsunade was confused, normally, a husband would have ran to his wife and hugged her after the excruciating process of giving birth, and was thinking about lecturing Minato when he spoke.

"Kushina, you know what I am going to do, right?" He asked as a tear slid down Kushina's face. "Minato, don't do this. I can't afford to lose you nor our son!"

Tsunade finally realised what was going on. How could she forget, with the Kyuubi right at Konoha's doorstep, the Hokage had only one way to defeat the beast.

He had planned on sealing the Kyuubi into his newborn son, but did not expect to have twins. The sealing jutsu he had planned to use could only sustain a single chakra channel and not to mention the Kyuubi's chakra was impossible to seperate. The beasts massive chakra resevoires only served as an unbreakable wall to all kinds of jutsus. So sealing half of Kyuubi into both of them was out.

Minato had to decide... which one? "Minato, you can't choose one over the other! It's just not fair!" Kushina pleaded. The mentioned blonde looked at her in fustration. "What am I supposed to do, Kushina. I don't want to do this, but there is no choice!" He shouted

"There's always another choice, Minato! Please... I'm begging you..." Kushina cried out while softening at the end.

Minato softened his serious face "Damned if I do, damned if I don't." He joked, giving a soft laugh.

Deciding to lightened the situation Tsunade spoke "What are their names, Kushina?" She asked, truly curious about their names.

Kushina blushed in embarassment "Well, I didn't expect a twin. But me and Minato had decided if our child was a boy, he would be called Naruto. And if it was a girl, she would be named Naruko"

Minato smiled "Well, we have one of their names, what about the other? I am thinking a name of more awe yet simple..." He muttured while holding his chin, completely forgotten about the Kyuubi.

"Jin..." Kushina whispered. "His name will be Jin, which means Virtue and Benevolence."

"Namikaze Jin, Namikaze Jin... That sounds wonderful. That shall be his name then." Minato flashed a smile.

Kushina gave a sad smile to Jin. "Jin," she called "For Humanity, it shall be your burden to carry. Minato, I understand your position. If you really require your son as a host, then... take Jin. As his name implies, let this be his first act of benevolence." (Jin also means Humanity)

The blonde Hokage took the infant from Kushina gently. He brushed Jin's hair lightly. "Take care of Kushina, Tsunade. As the last favor for me." Minato asked as tears welled up in his eyes. Silent tears invaded the blonde medic's eyes as she savoured the last time she would see her teammate's student. Though not of the same age, they were close friends. Kushina, Jiraiya, Minato and herself.

Tsunade nodded. Minato shifted through several handseals in quick succession. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He shouted and outside the Hospital window, A giant puff of smoke appeared and when the smoke dispersed, a gigantic battle frog smoking a pipe with a equally large tanto in hand appeared with the smoke.

The summoned toad looked into the window **"Minato you ready?" **He asked in a loud and deep voice. "I'm coming, bunta. I will be leaving, Kushina, I... I love you!" And with that, he jumped on to the battle toad and it leaped from the Hospital to the battlefield.

- T.H.E - H.E.R.O.'S - B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

"We present to you, the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. And his son, Namikaze Jin!" The Yondaime walked up to the podium, holding his son, Namikaze Jin.

"Last Night," He said as he began his aftermath speech. "As you all know, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha." At this, many looked down, loved ones lost due to the beast's rampage. "But, one thing also occured last night... the defeat of the KYUUBI!" He shouted and at this, cheers and claps erupted from the villagers.

"Last Night, my wife, Namikaze Kushina gave birth to my child. Namikaze Jin. With a forbidden fuuinjutsu I used, I was able to seal the Kyuubi within my own newly born son." Yondaime said with pride. But this though, the villagers were unsure whethere to cheer or demand for the death of the infant. Seeing their uncertainty, the Yondaime decided to proceed.

"I left the hospital room that my Wife is now still currently residing in, with knowledge of my death, due to the jutsus requirement of the user's life." The crowd gasped, unable to fathom the fact that the Yondaime should be dead.

"Yet, by miracle, I survived. Truthfully, I don't know how. I can only say... Lady Luck shined on me." Yondaime joked as a few in the crowd laughed. "This is the host of the Kyuubi." He declared as he hoisted Jin in the air. "He is the savior of Konoha, who now, at this very moment, has the burden of imprisoning the Kyuubi!" Minato shouted.

Cheers and claps once again exploded in the crowd. Yet... none of them realised one important thing. Throughout the speech, he had not mentioned once, of Naruto's existance...

- T.H.E - H.E.R.O.'S - B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

"Jin, now try to focus. Reach within you..." The Yondaime's patient voice told his son. "Do you feel the chakra?" He asked.

Afore mentioned Jin, was currently five years of age. Wearing a white gi, his father was teaching him the basics of chakra usage. Jin was what some would call, a late bloomer. Average children was capable of summoning their chakra for the first time at the age of four. But a year had passed for Jin and he was currently training to grab his chakra for within.

"I..I feel it dad! I feel it! It's a warm feeling, and a strange familiarity." Jin cried out, happily. Minato grinned "That's my boy!" He said like Jin had done the most incredible thing in the world. And Jin gave himself a self-satisfied smirk. It was pathetic, really, in Naruto's opinion.

Naruto had inherited his father's golden blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes. When he was a child, his hair was spiked wildly, in all directions. He had taken to combing his hair, and now, from a year of combing, his spiked hair had calmed down and became a layered fringe. (Think Nero from Devil May Cry)

And Jin had a mix of his father's yellow hair with his mother's red hair, to create a brownish orange colored hair, with spikes at the back and an Ino-like fringe at the front on his right eye. Speaking of his eyes, he had his mother's black eyes. (I don't know Kushina's eye color)

As Yondaime teached Jin personally, Naruto had been training by himself. Ever since he could remember, his parents had always shown an obvious favoritism towards Jin. As the Jinchuuriki, they were always so proud he had 'saved' Konoha, despite the obvious lack of talent in his part.

Reaching his chakra... Naruto could do that since he was three! He was now wall walking on the ceiling of the dojo they were all training in. As he walked directly above Jin, He was grabbed from the collar by Minato and pulled to the ground.

He landed in a heap, taken by surprise, though the Yondaime did not seem to care much. "Naruto, teach your brother how to gather his chakra. I am... er... I'm going to go find some notes for him." It was obvious their father was quickly getting fustrated by the incompetance his brother was _radiating_.

As their father left, Jin quickly turned to his 'brother' "Oi Baka-Naru, hurry up and give me the scroll." Naruto raised one eyebrow "Scroll?" he asked, truly confused. "Yes. The scroll where you learned how to use your chakra." Jin replied, annoyed.

"I do not understand-" Naruto was cut off by his twin "Stop bull shitting. There must be some secret technique you know or it would be impossible for you to be better than me."

Though Naruto enjoyed seeing his twin complain how Naruto was better than him because of a scroll even though he did not have a thing like that, it was quickly getting annoying as well.

"Brother, for the fifth time this week, I do not have a secret technique scroll." Jin gritted his teeth. "Fine if you don't want to help me then, maybe father can make you!" With that, Jin pulled back his arm, and for some reason hit himself on the jaw as hard as his five year old arm could, which wasn't very hard. But strong enough to leave a slight bruising.

Jin smirked and began loudly crying. Naruto widened his eyes as he figured out his plan. At once, and with a yellow flash, Minato was standing beside Jin. He started asking what was wrong and when he saw the bruise on his cheek, he demanded an answer from Naruto.

The blonde was about to say Jin hit himself when Jin started first. "Naruto, he punched me when I asked him a question!" And with the answer, he continued bawling in tears louder.

"Dad, I can ex-" He wasn't given a chance to finish when the Yondaime slapped him in the face.

Naruto accidently bit his tongue and blood leaked out of the corner of his mouth.

(Insert Yondaime's hateful lecture. (I really can't stand writing that kind of stuff.)

After the long scolding from his father, Minato took Jin and decided to go to the courtyard to train for the rest of the day and switched off the lights to the dojo, ignoring Naruto who was still standing on the same spot as he was when being scolded.

Tears threatened to leave his eyes as he nursed his red cheek. He clenched his fist and in a fit of anger, he punched the wall next to it. Several cracks appeared as his chakra enhanced fist impacted against it. Naruto clenched his eyes shut, his hatred for Jin increasing another notch.

Between his parents, Minato always favored Jin over him and Kushina did as well, though more subtle with it.

Deciding to forget about what had happened, he decided some muscle pains would be appropriate. He rushed to the leather punching bag filled with sand and began to rapidly land attacks on it. Punches and kicks, until his fists and knees had blisters.

- T.H.E - H.E.R.O.'S - B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

It was the first day of the academy and Jin was clearly excited about it. The past few days, there have been nothing but praises and wishes to Jin. People walking by them and wished Jin good luck for the academy and praising him to be such a wonderful shinobi.

It had been two years since the Dojo incident. Jin suddenly found his method worked very well. Everytime he hurt himself, Minato would hurt Naruto even more.

Kushina always made Jin's favourite dishes as well. _Only_ Jin's favourite dishes.

Now, they were walking down the streets accompanied by the Yondaime and his wife. Jin was standing between Minato and Kushinas they walked side by side to him, with Naruto trailing slightly behind them.

Jin was wearing a yellow shirt with a dark green Konoha symbol on the back, and cargo shorts that reached his calf with blue shinobi sandals. He had carried along a big bag with him, looking rather stupid in Naruto's opinion.

Naruto himself only had a small sealing scroll strapped to his waist. It was more convenient, lighter and doesn't look as stupid as carrying a huge bag.

As they continue heading to the academy, many villagers who passed by greeted the Yondaime, Kushina and their 'hero' son. Cheers along the streets. Naruto merely narrowed his eyes.

When they reached the Academy, it was slightly worse than Naruto thought. He wasn't a sociable person, and seeing the many children running towards the Academy's front door made him worry a little.

Immediately when they were close to the Academy, Naruto could see some girls with hearts in their eyes as they stared lovingly at Jin. His brother was always the charmer, with his fame and all...

Jin noticed them as well, but chose to ignore them and puffed up his chest. He loved the attention villagers threw at him. Though some would consider having a demon sealed in their belly, a curse, but Jin treated it as if it was a gift from god. He always bragged about how he saved the village, fucking self-centered douchebag...

They reached the Academy's reception and there the Yondaime and his wife parted with their son, wishing good luck. Naruto stood a few meters away, opting to observe the place he was going to study in for the next six years.

It was relatively big, he thought. It had to be big to occupy so many students. There was at least 50 students in each level and not to mention the facilities like the Dojo, Training Grounds, etc...

The twins entered their first year classroom, and immediately all noise inside stopped. Everybody stopped what they were doing and stared at the twins. I meant, stared at Jin. Afterall, the legendary hero who defeated the Kyuubi was about to study in their class. Girls stared dreamily at him while boys were just looking at him in awe and indifference.

Jin walked to the second row, where an empty seat was stuck out like a sore thumb in the row of students. And he seated in it, began conversing with his neighbours. Naruto chose to seat at a more inconspicious seat, at the back of the classroom.

When he reachd the last row, he noticed there was already a person in it, a sleeping boy with a pineapple like haircut. Seating two seats from him, Naruto took out a book to read. It was titled 'Hi no Kuni – Bingo Book'

- T.H.E - H.E.R.O.'S - B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

The next few years went by in a blink of an eye. As usual, Jin was praised for everything he did. Even accidently hitting an instructor's shoulder during Kunai throwing practice. Great aim, they called it. How retarded was that?

And, as usual, Naruto was always better than Jin. Heck, better than most students above their age, really. He had a full marks for all things. Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Weapons, etc...

And he really had to think it was unfair when his grades were swapped with Jin. Every year, at the end of the year, his grades would be swapped with Jin's. Naruto would receive Jin's mediocre grades and Jin would receive the title of First in Class.

It was funny how the Hokage could abuse his authority with just a snap of his fingers. Nonetheless, Naruto thought of it as a compliment to him and an insult to Jin. Obviously, the boy can't do anything good himself and needed Naruto's grades to make himself look good. Pathetic... he would often think.

What was weird as that even though Naruto scored full marks in tests like Accuracy with Weapons, or Taijutsu in front of the class, they refused to accept Naruto as their better and continued to ridicule him for Jin's low marks. He would prove them wrong when he became Hokage...

Yes, he wanted to be the Hokage. Not just for his desire for recognition, nor the multiple perks of that title... No, he wanted to change the village. Change the world. Naruto had some dark desires in his heart that no one knew about... No one _will_ know about.

He will show the village, he will cleanse this corrupt world, filled with lies and filthy sins.

Then, perhaps he would soon be recognised as the better of the twins, not just as The Hero's Brother...

- T.H.E - H.E.R.O.'S - B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Done. Hope you liked it, and enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Author's Notes : Well, this is the first chapter of my new story. Maybe some clarification might be needed. First of, This is not an original idea. This plot has been used several times already in Harry Potter Fanfictions. Yes, I do read them, actually just began to read them this month. I deeply enjoyed them, but my passion in writing FF will always be in Naruto.

Second, as you can see, Naruto's parents favor Jin over Naruto for the simple fact that he is the Jinchuuriki. However, _please_ note that Naruto is _not_ abused. He is not mistreated nor is he malnourished. This is very important as I want to show you that Naruto is not beaten up on a regular basis. He is _only_ treated unfairly by his parents. And because of that, he despises the attention given to him by everyone. Envy might be another way to put it.

Please review and tell me what you think.

Seriously, review.

_Well if you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (evil laughter) _


	2. Question Of The Day

The Hero's Brother Special Note

Disclaimer : Kishimoto, give me Naruto or else! Woah, what's with that sawed-off shotty? Wait, wait, wait! NO no!

Ok, im going to make this quick. I'm currently writing chapter two of The Hero's Brother. And theres this forest scene I need you, the reader's help on.

Now, the question is should there be a pairing? Should Naruto have a best friend? Or should Naruto have an 'accomplice in crime'?

If you want a pairing, leave it in the reviews. Please keep it within resonable requests. I can't just write that somehow Naruto met Kyuubi and they ended up together, that would be ridiculous.

So, leave a pairing you have in mind. Or if you want Naruto to have a best friend, or a group of friends, leave their names in the reviews. Again, its the same with the pairing. Keep it under reasonable requests. Naruto can't just make friends with Kisame or something suddenly.

The 'Partner in crime' is the same as the above mentioned. Just leave it in the reviews and I will think about your choices.

I like to leave the final decision in you the reader's hands. So... review and tell me what you think.


	3. Gift from the Devil

The Hero's Brother Chapter Two

Disclaimer : Screw you Kishimoto, Naruto's MINE! Wait... this isn't Naruto, this is... BLEACH! Oh godammit, he freaking tricked me!

Author's notes : Hi guys. First things first, sorry for the extremely late chapter, but I have been really busy. My life is going to get a lot more busier starting...Now. I won't be able to spend a lot of time on fanfiction, maybe not at all. Life can be a real bitch at times.

Next, I have gotten lots of reviews asking whether Naruto would 'kick Jin's pampered ass'. Guys, you already know the answer to that... Yes, and he would be wearing a steel toed boot!

Next, 'Will Naruto hand his brother to pein on a silver platter?' Well, honest I don't know whether to make Akatsuki Naruto's enemies or friends, only time will tell.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

"Happy birthday, kid!" A man with a mane of unruly white hair shouted as he ruffled Jin's hair affectionately. "Arigato, Ero-Sennin!" The Jinchuuriki replied happily. It was Jin's birthday... No, it was _Their_ birthday. Yet he had only received a single 'Happy Birthday' from the Sandaime, and that was only after he 'Forgotten' his present when he bought a set of Limited Edition Camo Weapons Set for Jin. (Its basically kunai and shuriken in camo paint.)

Naruto stood in the corner of the living room as a dozen of people when over to Jin and wished him a happy birthday and giving him birthday presents. The room was packed full of over a hundred people, but Minato was by no means mediocre, and his living room could pack double that amount of people.

More than a hundred presents wrapped in shiny wrapping paper and ribbons were piled on a table and floor. Naruto stared at the presents, green in envy.

The guests then began to leave, except for those close to Jin or his parents. Jin ran to the presents and using his new Camo Kunai, began to rip the wrapping paper. Naruto was disgusted at his use of such a precious weapon as a simple paper cutter.

The first present he opened was from the 'White eyes' as Jin had loudly proclaimed. It was a scroll on advanced chakra control. Jin almost laughed at the present. "Who needs chakra control when I have them in spades?" He mocked before throwing it somewhere. Naruto reminded himself to 'borrow' that from his dear brother.

Next was from the Shikas, a close friend to Minato. Inside was a folded chess board with pieces made from ivory of an elephant, and its black pieces made of ebony. Again, he threw it over his head again, landing on the Hyuuga's scroll.

Third was from Hatake Kakashi, Minato's student from the time when he was a jounin sensei. It was a face mask, much like his own. It acted like a choker that you had to wear around your neck, and when needed, to be pulled up. This one Jin liked as it made him look like 'Kakashi-niisan'. He sort of idolized the Copy Ninja of Konoha when growing up. It is strange to see Jin idolize another human being other than himself.

Naruto turned away and exited the room, he could not bare continuing watching. It hurt. Though he and his brother had different status, but that alone should not determine their integrity, and human worth. Why is the world so damn unfair? When Jin received cheers, he would receive curses. When Jin received praise, he would receive pain. Why...?

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

A thud was made as Naruto scored another bullseye on tree. A kunai was buried half way up the blade. The blonde picked up another kunai, but this time he enhanced the kunai's attributes with his wind chakra, he threw it at another target, this time a rock. It pierced the rock, burying it up to the hilt.

After two years in the academy, he had 'borrowed' a chakra element training scroll from his father's vast library. It was often unused, fortunately for Naruto as he could sneak in oh so often and swipe some scrolls off the shelves. Jin was never a reader, he preferred hands-on practice even though he never was any good...

As he continued throwing kunais after kunais at trees or rocks, he suddenly felt a precense behind him. He swiftly turned and a kunai flew and imbedded itself at a tree beside the stalker. The person widened their eyes.

But Naruto recognised the person. "Oh, it's you." The figure walked out of the shadows. With raven black hair and the easily recognised obsidian eyes, the ever memorable Uchiha Clan symbol on his shirt, Itachi appears!

"What do you want?" Naruto asked harshly as he returned to flicking kunais and shurikens. "Hnn, you are angry..." Itachi commented. The fury could be seen behind Naruto's unmoving face.

The blonde narrowed his eyes. "What do you want!" He shouted, this time pumping too much chakra in his kunai and a small explosion occured when his kunai hit a rock.

"Why the anger? And I came all the way here to give you a birthday present too." Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "Present?"

The blonde may not think like a ten year old, but he is still a kid. The mention of a birthday present intrigued and excited him.

Itachi flicked out something and threw it at Naruto. The blonde caught it of course.

The present was two beautifully crafted butterfly knives. (google for image.)

It was an enchanting silver with its blades longer than a normal butterfly knife. Naruto immediately opened his mouth in a 'Woah'. And began doing tricks with them. Flipping the blade out and flipping it in

"The blade and handle are made from carbon steel, for light-weight maneuvering. Hope you like it." Itachi finished with a small smile.

Naruto regained his composure and returned the knife to its handle. "Thanks." He merely said.

Itachi turned around and began to walk off. "Naruto, my offer still stands. I am doing it tomorrow, you know where to meet me." He declared. The blonde narrowed his eyes, staring at the butterfly knives. "Itachi, how are you so sure I won't tell people what you will do."

The Uchiha turned his head towards Naruto "Because I know you hold no loyalty to neither this village nor your father." And with that, the fifteen year old ANBU captain shunshined away. Gripping the butterfly knife, he flipped out the blade and with a flick of his wrist, it flew towards the rock, burrowing in. 'What am I supposed to do? Why does a ten-year old has so much responsibilities?'

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

**Two days later**

Everything was a disaster. Chaos roamed in the streets of Konoha. Everyone was in an uproar about a single issue. The complete and total massacre of the Uchiha Clan. (I say complete because Sasuke is dead as well. Fucking prick.)

Not a single Uchiha was left alive... well, except for the person who performed the killings. Uchiha Itachi. The young ANBU captain and prodigy of the Uchiha clan. Of course, he escaped, not before running into two ANBUs on patrol while walking calmly on the streets of Konoha, covered in blood and tanto unsheathed, also gleaming in the crimson liquid of life.

After a thorough investigation, the Yondaime declared the young prodigy insane. And was not under the right mind when performing the massacre. Which concluded the whole investigation. No motive of murder, no investigation of weapons used, no nothing. Of course, the public ate it all up like some naive puppies following its master, Minato.

However Naruto knew better. Itachi had told him days before the actual massacre. There was one and only motive. Besides the deep hatred Itachi possessed towards his own clan, he merely wanted to test himself. To reach the tip of his capability. To see how we would fare against his own kinsmen.

Naruto's absence that night meant his rejection of joining Itachi in the murder of his clansmen. Although the ten year old blonde despised his village, did not mean he was evil. Massacring hundreds of people for no particular reason did not appeal to Naruto.

Now, the people were wondering which clan would go next. Surely, after the complete destruction of their 'strongest' clan, another was bound to be massacred .

In the academy, everyone was talking in loud whispers within their own group. Many were wasking Jin for information, after all being the Hokage's son had that advantage. 'Idiots. So drunk on peace that they never saw this coming. A simple clan disappearing off the face of earth caused such a commotion. They are in a shinobi village for crying out loud. They should be prepared for this!

Currently, Naruto was situated in his usual seat in the Academy's classroom, flipping out his butterfly knives' blade and returning it to its handle. 'This village is pretty pathetic. The students here are all so weak. How I wish Kiri's academy system replaced this pathetic Konoha academy curriculum. I could... _hurt... _Jin so easily then.'

The door suddenly opened and a chuunin with a scar across his face and over his nose walked in. "Class settle down." He simply said and the whispers vanished. "As most of you may have known by now, the Uchiha clan is..." He hesitated, trying to find a good word. "...Now no more. And that includes your classmate Sasuke." At that, multiple girls in the room started tearing up and one of the more _hardcore_ Sasuke fans began bawling and crying her lungs out, some pink haired girl he never bothered to learn the name of.

"I know all of you are having a hard time adjusting," He stopped for a moment, glancing at the pink haired girl. "But we all have to move on." At that, a hand was raised among the seated students "What happened?" Was the curious question asked by an Aburame, his name who he did not seem to remember as well. "That is... classified information. But I doubt it would be for long, but I still can't tell you."

After the fiasco in the classroom, the scarred chuunin gave them the day off, for some of them to adapt to the class with one student missing.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

The blonde wore a

Academy was released early, Naruto walked through Konoha's forest. Enjoying the peace and tranquility. When he looked like he suddenly remembered something. He headed back to the village, and arrived at the ANBU headquarters.

He approached the reception desk and found it not to be the dark and creepy place he thought it would be. It actually had an average look to it. Naruto smirked, god knows what was within these walls...

When he asked for the lastest edition of the Bingo Book, the reception girl asked for his identity and rank. After pointing out his status as an academy student, the woman asked him to 'go back to mommy' as kindly put it.

But after mentioning his father, that changed the situation. She was more than glad to present him a mint copy of the Latest Bingo Book.

Naruto smirked after receiving it and thanked her, eagerly flipping through the pages. After all, he would have to know any person or _thing_ that is perceived as a threat outside the safe walls of Konoha.

He stopped dead in his tracks after flipping to the N section. On one of the pages of the Bingo Book, was a picture of a blonde shinobi. Whose sunkissed hair reached shoulder length. Had a pair of sapphire blue eyes that radiated skill and strength. Namikaze Minato... He read further down, catching the tiniest of details.

Name : Namikaze Minato

Affiliation : Konohagakure no Sato

Rank : Hokage

Status : SS-rank, Flee On Sight

Description : Age between 20-30, Blonde Hair, Blue eyes, 6'10. No more information is available.

Bounty : 200 Million Ryo, Placed by Iwagakure. 100 Million Ryo, Placed by Kumogakure.

Known Skills : Extremely Skilled in Fuuinjutsu. Kage-level Ninjutsu. Kage-level Taijutsu. Jounin-level Genjtusu. Other attributes – unknown.

Known Jutsus : Multiple self created jutsus. High Level Fuuton Jutsus. High Level Raiton Jutsus. High Level Ninpou. (Ninpou as in – Kage bunshin, shunshin, etc..) Other Jutsus Unknown

Naruto stopped reading. After knowledge of his father's place in the Bingo book and status was more than enough to conclude one thing. His father was a monster. A true genius in the Ninja Arts. The third to receive SS-rank in history. The first and second being Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara.

He then remembered Itachi and flipped to the U section. 'Uchiha Bisuke, Uchiha Gensuru, Uchiha Golimu... Hah, found it. Uchiha Itachi'

A picture of a raven haired teen with black onyx eyes... Uchiha Itachi.

Name : Uchiha Itachi

Affiliation : Konohagakure no Sato

Rank : Anbu Captain, Missing Nin

Status : S-rank, Flee on Sight

Description : Age 15 Black hair, black eyes (red with three tomoe if Sharingan activated) 6'5 No more information is available.

Bounty : 80 Million, Placed by Konohagakure

Known Skills : High Jounin level Ninjutsu. Kage-level Genjtusu. Jounin Level Taijutsu. Mastery of Doujutsu, Sharingan. Jounin Level Weapons Mastery. Other attributes Unknown.

Known Jutsus : High Level Katon Jutsus. Intermediate level Ninpou. Other jutsus unknown

Criminal Act : Massacring the entirety of Konohagakure's Uchiha Clan.

Naruto stopped reading and sighed. 'They really included Itachi's name, eh? That was quick, considering the massacre only occured two days ago... '

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Done. You know, the weird thing is that I had finished this chapter two days ago, only didn't upload it. Anyways... you just read the second chapter of The Hero's brother.

Love it/Hate it, please review and tell me what you think. Just click the little button below!

Seriously, review.

_Well, it you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (evil laughter)_


	4. Enter Danzo

The Hero's Brother Chapter Three

Disclaimer : Screw you guys, I am not writing another disclaimer.

Author's Notes : Hey guys. Here's the third chapter of The Hero's Brother, hope you like it. Well, examinations are over and I'm pretty much carefree right now... until my results comes back. But oh well, live and let live, no? Enjoy!

PS

There won't be a pairing. I know you readers are going to flame me for this, but I thought about it and I discovered a single crucial fact. I have no experiences with a girlfriend so I would have no idea how to write fluff. What? I am Fourteen in an All-Boys School, what do you expect? So... yeah... enjoy the story. ...Why are you still here? Eyes below. ...Why are you still reading the author's notes? Read the story below!...Okay, you are just being creepy now.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

(Time skip to second day of the Last year of Academy)

Iruka was babbling on about some boring stuff on the history of the elemental countries or something, Naruto wasn't paying much attention. He was now donning a black vest with holsters and a blood red shirt beneath. The vest contained _thin_ metal plates within its fabric, for extra protection. Below, he wore a long pair of khaki pants with multiple holsters and pockets as well, and a pair of black steel-toed military combat boots. His two butterfly knives sheathed on a belt behind his waist.

He was seated on the top left corner of the class, nearest to the windows. He looked out, and stared at the blue sky and green leaves and reminiscence about the past few years.

It had been three years since the Uchiha Massacre, and the scar left on the village have not been forgotten. After all the loss of their strongest clan, which, by the way could not even fend off an attack from a single shinobi, hurt the village alot. Sarcasm aside, the Uchihas were actually a crucial part of the Village's security and economy. They alone purchased 20 percent of most Ninja weapons and daily necessities. They formed up to 85 percent of the Konoha Military Police Force. They were promptly disbanded as there was simply not enough people.

Not to mention their eyes. All that it came down to was their eyes. Their precious, 'mightier than thou' Sharingan eyes. Losing them was a huge setback to Konoha's shinobi forces. It was their doujutsu that other countries feared. The Sharingan, as infamous as the Clan that possessed it, was truly one of the most deadly tool in the Shinobi world.

It was after all, their eyes that led the Uchiha to be one of the strongest clans during the warring clan period.

Then again, some people were glad and pleased the Uchiha were gone. They were the Hyuuga, the rival of the Uchiha Clan. They.. Fuck, this is getting boring. Not going to do the whole clan wars history. _Fast forward, Fast forward, Fast forward... _there we go.

Over the years, the few things that did not change in Naruto's eyes, were the obvious favoritism towards his _brother_. Everyone loved him. And I mean _Everyone_. There was simply no wrong in him. Not a single evil bone within his body. His ego was being stroked every single minute in this village.

His arrogance growing every time someone praised him even for doing absolutely nothing but living. His ego was so out of whack that it would do whatever it can to protect himself. Jin's messed up ego can do these mental gymnastics to convince himself he is awesome, when really he's just a douchebag. And the worst part – everyone is buying it! **-From Southpark, my favourite American Cartoon. Which i do not own DUH. **

It angered Naruto just thinking about it. Oh yeah, the Yondaime had been continuing for the past six fucking years. Swapping Jin's grades with his. Made him like the freaking dead last. And the worst part? He couldn't do a single shit about it. He _could_ reveal it to the village with undisputed evidence, but his _father_ have had the village so brainwashed, they would believe anything he says.

Who would the village believe? His father, Konoha's hero and Yondaime Hokage, or his lesser known, shady son? He would sooner be crucified by the villagers than do any lasting damage on his father's reputation in his propaganda filled village.

But if there was one good trait in Namikaze Naruto, was his endurance and will power. 'Endure... just endure this...' he would tell himself as he clenched his fist in anger, and grit his teeth in rage.

Naruto would take his anger out on the training grounds surrounding the village. Practicing jutsu after jutsu. Utilizing his chakra elemental affinity to the maximum.

Oh yes, he discovered his elemental affinity when he was eleven. A year after the massacre. After reading tales of legendary shinobi around the globe he quickly noticed that each ninja specialised in a specific element or elements.

After discovering the existence of elemental chakra affinities, he quickly learned high ranked jutsus of his elements, being wind, lightning and fire. A strange combination, infact a very rare one. Like his father, he possessed wind and lightning, and from his mother, his fire affinity.

To date, he knows of more than twenty B-ranked jutsus, 10 A-ranked jutsus containing all three elements, and a single S-ranked wind jutsu he borrowed from his father's private jutsu library.

'Wait, he had two years yet he only learned less than fifty jutsus? That's impossible, Narutos in other stories could learn more than hundred of jutsus in a single year!' Is what you might think... but my Naruto does not learn jutsus... he masters them. He understands the jutsu, he picks it apart, and after studying the 'dissected' technique, he puts it back together and make it even stronger.

The person who taught him this concept of mastering jutsus and not learning them was the only person he could relate to, Uchiha Itachi. (Not yaoi, thanks)

Speaking of the Onyx eyed traitor, he still had his present. His simply exquisite pair of butterfly knives. He had been practicing with them for two years. Naruto at first was only able to flip it out and flip it in in two seconds. But after practicing, he could now do those simple actions in less than a second. It was hard, he had to admit. Every fine detail of the knife was a crucial part to the entire weapon.

The pivot pins was oiled once a week. The edge was regularly sharpened and the handle polished. The latch, which was used for locking the knife and holding it closed, was replaced with a seal that utilized a mental command from Naruto while he held the knife to lock or unlock it.

But the most change to the knives were the kanji he had carved on the blade. A small kanji for Itachi, 鼬 on the left blade. To remind him of the first person who gave him his first present. And the kanji for Sin, 罪 on the right blade. To remind him of the first sin dealt to him by the villagers and his family.

After years of practicing, he noticed the knife could channel chakra as well. Well, all weapons can channel chakra, but somehow the butterfly knives was able to 'purify' the chakra channeled. Shaping it to have a sharp edge and then surrounding the blade itself. Naruto wondered whether Itachi knew of this. Bah, who was he kidding, Itachi would not give a mundane a gift as regular butterfly knives.

In conclusion, it was an average three years for Naruto... Which brings us to... now.

Jin was, as usual, surrounded by half the class and all the girls in the student population. Bah, fangirls... nothing but delusional, hormonal little harpies. They had no idea who Jin was, yet claimed to be his 'one true love', and actually thought that he 'secretly loves me but is too shy to admit it'. There is no bigger bullshit.

They were unbelievable, and like Jin, they believed he was the best, he was awesome when it is so painfully obvious he is a little asshole. Naruto could still remember that day, it was a few months ago. During a taijutsu only spar, the teacher in charge put Naruto against Jin, in hopes of the Hero showing off his skills to his dead last brother.

But boy was he wrong when Naruto simply side stepped and tripped Jin with his feet when said boy rushed towards him, throwing a wild punch.

Naruto laughed mentally as he remembered what happened. When Jin was running towards Naruto, all the girls was going "Kick his ass!" or "Jin you are so cool!" and even "Let me have your babies!" from one girl who actually wore an "I love Jin" T-shirt.

And when he tripped him with a slight movement from his feet, they all jeered and booed, screaming for Naruto's head, saying he cheated and it was not possible Jin lost, though it had already happened... 15 times that month? Naruto did not bother counting the numbe of times he kicked his brother's ass. Yet how he still acted like a pompous ass was beyond Naruto.

He smirked at Jin's direction, thinking of his bruised face from the last time Naruto punched him during their taijutsu spar, tired of the same old routine which included Jin running at Naruto (every single time), Naruto tripping Jin (every single time) and everyone shouting he cheated (every single time).

Somehow, Jin caught Naruto looking at him, and for some insignificant reason decided to walk over to Naruto, with his little 'gang' following him.

"Hey... _dobe_" Jin started, smirking. The rest behind him laughing and some spotted the same smirk as Jin. Naruto closed his eyes, sighed heavily and looked back at Jin. "What do you want, brother?" Jin looked angry at that "Dobe, don't call me brother, you don't deserve me as your brother."

Naruto merely continued staring at him with indifference. His _brother_ narrowed his eyes "Stop looking at me!" he demanded and Naruto, simply hoping he would just leave and stop bothering him, complied. He looked directly infront seemingly ignoring Jin.

Now Jin was getting frustrated. "Don't ignore me you useless deadlast!" Naruto sighed, and looked back, with his cold empty eyes, emotionless face and dull facial expression. Jin growled, surprising those around him. "Y-you... dobe... D-deadlast, don't you give me that look, you useless waste of space!" He stuttered and shouted in anger.

Seeing his little outburst had no effect, he decided to taunt and provoke Naruto, knowing he could not do anything... No, knowing that his father would make sure Naruto could not do anything.

"Tch, hey, you guys know why this piece of trash is the dead last?" He asked the people behind. "Cause he's useless?" "Because he is an idiot?" "Because he is retarded?" Several suggestions shot out. Jin shook his head "No... It's because _Naruto doesn't have a mommy and daddy, do you?_" He mock cried at the end.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. This was new. "You may be my brother," Jin started "but you sure ain't my parent's son! You must be fucking adopted!" Naruto narrowed his eyes, what was his brother going on about now?

Seeing his brother's eyes narrow, Jin knew this was working. He continued "You heard me. You are so useless, the Yondaime Hokage can't be your father. Afterall a dead last like you could never have received the genes of the world's strongest shinobi ever!"

That stung.

Naruto was not one who would be hurt by words, he did not know why being told he did not belong hurt him so much. He silently clenched his fist in anger, wishing Jin would not provoke him further or Naruto would do something he might regret.

Jin did now miss his brother clenching his fist. He knew his provocation was working, and he stupidly decided to taunt him further. "Yeah you heard me, trash! You are nothing. You don't belong here, you don't belong in this village, you don't belong in my elite family, you dead last!" Jin shouted almost manically. Naruto accidently released his killing intent for a split second, and at that split second it was the first time Jin truly felt death staring straight at him.

And ironically, Naruto _was_ staring straight at Jin, his eyes colder than the icy embrace of death. Naruto immediately calmed down. "Funny you would say that, especially when you yourself know why I am the deadlast and why you are the top in class last year, no in every year." He said, calmly.

Jin took a moment to register Naruto's sentence and smirked "That's because I am a genius and you are a retard!" He shouted, laughter ensuing. Naruto laughed. "And how, per se, did I... how you say... 'Kick your ass' in every sparring match?" He asked mockingly.

Jin immedately replied "I know you cheated in every match, deadlast!" Naruto rolled his eyes "You yourself know very well you are the top in class because _father_, the yondaime hokage swapped your grades with mine, me receiving your shitty scores... _**deadlast..." **_Jin narrowed his eyes in anger, "You call me the deadlast, you trash!" He shouted and threw a rather flimsy punch.

Naruto's head went through at least a dozen different ways to break Jin's arm without anyone even noticing, but decided against it. Instead, he merely turned his neck, letting Jin's slow fist fly past his head, an inch from his cheeks.

More punches came from Jin with Naruto dodging all of them without even moving from his seat. "I won't hurt you Jin. You know that. _Father_ would murder me if you ran to him crying." Naruto said, as Jin started his barrage of wild and flimsy punches again.

One boy at the back commented on Naruto's statement. "You won't hurt him because you are too weak!" Naruto recognized that rough and unruly voice, it belonged to the Inuzuka Heir, Kiba.

Tired of this little fiasco, Naruto used an advanced version of kawarimi he created as a variation of the original technique and switched places with Kiba, letting Kiba be hitted by his brother's attacks. Only when Jin noticed, the person he was hitting had brown hair instead of his brother's sunkissed blonde, he stopped. When Jin had actually stopped, Kiba already spotted several bruises.

Normally, any sane student would stand up and punch Jin back. But from his father's influences, no one, I mean _no one_ dared to hurt Jin, or say anything about his tyrannic ways.

**(I don't believe regular kawarimi can be used to actually subsitute with as large a living thing as a human. A rabbit maybe, as shown with Zabuza) **

"Coward, you used another person as your scapegoat?" Jin shouted. By now, the boys were chanting "Fight, Fight, Fight!" Whereas the girls were chanting "Kick his ass" and similar other phrases. Naruto merely stood in apathy, looking at the scene with nothing but cold indifference. Ignoring and drowning out the masses' cheering and jeering.

Once Jin spotted his brother, he performed several handseals and clapped his hands together "Fūton: Reppūshō!" He shouted out and despite the many students in front of him, he pushed forward with his wind chakra enhanced palm attack, knocking several students off their feet, as he headed towards Naruto.

Said blonde narrowed his eyes and with a swift flick of his arm, he gripped Jin's wrist, the wind chakra floating harmlessly around his outstretched palm. "Weak..." Naruto muttered and after the chakra dissipated, he pushed the hand away and walked off.

"Damn it..." Jin growled "Don't try to run away, baka-Naruto!" His brother looked back. "Fuck off, Jin..." He simply said before heading to the door. But the door opened infront of him and Iruka stared surprised at Naruto. "Class is starting, Namikaze-san. Where are you going?" The Scar-faced chuunin asked.

Naruto looked back, glancing at Jin and his groupies before answering "Tch..." He pushed Iruka out of the way and walked out.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

It was near sunset when Naruto returned home. Where he was the whole day was a mystery...

The moment Naruto stepped into the rather large mansion, he met his mother, as if she was waiting for him. "Mother." He greeted and continued walking, but was stopped by Kushina.

"And where have you been, Naruto." She asked, anger's obvious presence in her voice. "Out." Naruto merely answered. Kushina narrowed her eyes "Your brother told me you skipped school today." His _brother_ eh? "Yeah..." He replied.

"Why did you skip school? Even if you're the dead-last of your class, you should moreover work harder, right?" She demanded. Naruto closed his eyes in silent anger. Funny how everyone thought he was a deadlast...

Naruto was about to answer when an actual rasengan almost hit his face if he had not kawarimi with a vase lying somewhere. Growling, he searched for the attacker, only to see the cold blue eyes of his father...

"Minato, why did you do that?" Kushina asked, more curiosity than anger. Minato narrowed his eyes in rage "That little dipshit hurt our son!" The red haired Uzumaki Shinobi widened her eyes in shock before narrowing them at Naruto. "Why, why do you like hurting your brother, Naruto?" She shouted.

"Even if he is the top of your class, there is no reason to be jealous and attack your brother. You should be glad, Jin doesn't hit you back!" Kushina yelled at Naruto. _'Again and again...' _

Seeing Naruto's silence, Minato took it to offense and charged up another rasengan, albeit only at the first stage. (Where the rasengan only has a spiral attack but no power)

Naruto recognized the incomplete rasengan, and when Minato attacked him with it, Naruto did the only thing he learned all this years. _Just Endure..._ The spiraling orb smashed into Naruto's gut. Sending him out of the front door, landing outside. Blood dripped out of Naruto's mouth. Though it was only at its first stage, but in the hands of the true master of the shinobi arts like Minato, it was incredibly deadly.

The blonde haired academy student lay on the ground, nursing his wound, noting his shredded shirt. "And don't even think about coming back, you little bastard!" He screamed at Naruto and slammed the door, leaving an injured Naruto outside.

Said blonde stood up gently, trying to avoid any more damage to his body. "Are you okay?" Naruto widened his eyes, and jumped back, pulling out a kunai at the same time. Only to see a middle aged man standing where he stood. Naruto recognized him. Bandages covered half his body. Only his left eye and lower face was shown. A cross shaped scar donning his chin and a black sling held his supposedly crippled right arm

"What do you want... Danzo?"

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Done! This chapter was a little faster than the last one. Like I said, exams are over, so i have much more free time. Hoped you liked the new chapter. I worked hard on it!

So... What will happen now that Naruto meets his father's arch nemesis, the mysterious ex-root commander, Danzo? Look forward to the next chapter! Please review and tell me what you think.

_Seriously, review._

_Well if you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (evil laughter) _


	5. Danzo, ippen shinde miru?

The Hero's Brother Chapter Four

Disclaimer : You aren't disclaiming? T-this is madness! Madness? **THIS IS FANFICTION!**

Author's Notes : Hey guys. Here's the fourth installment of The Hero's Brother, hope you like it. Oh, and I am _really happy!_ My first story that reached a 100 reviews! I am so excited adrenaline is literally flowing through my veins!

Now, let's start with some reader's reviews...

1)Naruto will not hurt his parents both directly or indirectly. He is above that.

2)Naruto will not join Akatsuki. Will they be his enemies? I don't know. I know one thing for sure, nobody is a boss of Naruto!

3)Fuuinjutsu will be one of Naruto's good points.

4)Is akatsuki/orochimaru good? Fuck no. The Akatsuki will do anything that serves their purpose. Orochimaru is just screwed up in the head.

5)Naruto learns kage bunshin? Maybe, but he won't randomly make a thousand clones against one enemy though. That is a rather idiotic tactic and useless against a superior enemy.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

"What do you want... Danzo?"

The question hung in the air in an awkward silence. Danzo turned towards Naruto "I merely wanted to know if you were okay..." The old war-hawk replied.

"There's nothing for you to concern yourself about. I am perfectly fine." Naruto coldly stated. He had heard of Danzo. A war-hawk who wants Konoha to reign supreme over all other shinobi villages through war and battle. The last time he heard of him was from his father telling Jin to be careful of him. Seemed that Danzo really wanted Jin to become a living weapon for the village.

"Are you sure? That injury of yours looks rather serious." The ex root commander asked and walked towards Naruto. Gritting his teeth, Naruto threw the kunai in front of Danzo. "Not a step closer." the blonde warned.

Danzo was angered by the blatant disrespect the brat showed him but through years of training, he managed to calm himself down without revealing his disdain towards the kid. "I know what happened, Naruto-kun." He began.

Said blonde widened his eyes, but tightened his grip on another kunai he pulled out. "Aren't you angry... look at what your father did to you." Danzo continued. "I know you dislike him. I know you hate them."

Naruto looked at the injury on his stomach. A red scorch like mark on his gut, his eyes almost watering. Not at the pain but the fact his father would actually attack him...

Danzo knew he got Naruto at that and continued "Help me, help you." Naruto lowered his kunai, and the war hawk took a few steps forward, a meter away from the blonde. "Join me..."

Naruto closed his eyes "Danzo... _Ippen Shinde Miru_?" He whispered, releasing his entire killing intent accumulated during the entire event, and releasing his chakra pressure. Only now, Danzo realized... how fearsome was this thirteen year old academy student.

Naruto was no fool. He knew the risk of provoking Danzo like that. He was in fact an ANBU commander, albeit retired. But still, he continued.

"Do you believe me to be stupid? If you do, then you are no better than the rest of the idiots in this village. I will not assist you in your pathetic attempt at ruling this village." Naruto shouted.

Danzo narrowed his eyes, seething in anger. "Do not mock me, boy. I can easily snap you in two like a toothpick if I choose to." Naruto narrowed his eyes in return "And do not assume you know me, Danzo. Do not even think for a second you understand me. And never try to fool me again, or I will hunt you down, Danzo... I will hunt you down and gut you! Namikaze Naruto is no one's slave!" Naruto screamed, glaring at the other with all the rage he could muster.

Said shinobi recoiled at his threat "This... is not over brat. No, this is far from over." He threatened and promptly disappeared.

At his disappearance, Naruto let out a breath he did not even know was there. Sweat matted his brows. That was close. Very close. Danzo could have killed him right there. The only reason he did not do so was because Minato might have come out angry that Danzo was going to stain the house's front steps.

The blonde student kept his kunais. Glancing back at the house, he decided to stay out for the night. Let the folks cool down. They always do. His parents would either forgive him or forget about the whole incident all together. Most likely the latter.

Looking at his supply pouch, he noticed his ninja tools were running low so Naruto decided to pay the local Ninja Weapons Shop a visit.

Walking down the streets, he noticed it was much... quieter than when he walked with his brother. When walking along with Jin, there would be whispers, greetings and he always had to stop every minute for some random person to shake hands with Jin. Said Jinchuuriki of course relishing in the attention.

Now, the people did not notice him. To them he was just another person on the streets. Naruto found it to be... refreshing. Away from all the noise.

Something caught his eyes though. It was a jutsu shop. Curious... He had never known there was a shop selling jutsus. Walking in, he found it to be quite spacious, though it's shelves neatly contained jutsus, categorized according to rank, type and element. It was filled with customers as well. From academy students, to jounin even, all looking at the many technique scrolls.

Amusing himself, he Naruto decided to explore the newly found store. Walking towards the fire jutsu section, he found several... basic techniques only, much to Naruto's distaste. Katon – Endan, Katon – Goukakyuu.. The highest he saw was only a Katon – Ryuuka. How disappointing.

Though none of it was good, it was fun to see so many different techniques, even if many of them were absolutely useless.

Then Naruto reached the Taijutsu section. It was a small section, it only contained less than a dozen styles. Some of them even more useless than the Academy's style. Well, Naruto did not need any of the styles here though. He already had the Five Elements Style

The Five Elements Style contained five different variations of it. Each named after one of the five elements, Fire, Water, Wind, Earth and Lightning. Each required a specific style of fighting.

The Fire Stance used strong barrages of attacks that kept the enemy busy in order to deliver a powerful and fatal attack when a chance was given.

The Water Stance used fluid and flexible motions to flow around the opponent's attack, using their own force against them.

The Earth Stance used rigid and heavy defense which led to the attacker more hurt than the user.

The Wind Stance used constant movement around the enemy to deliver swift punches and jabs. The opponent would most likely wear themselves out before the user needed to strike the final blow.

The Lightning Stance used quick, precise and fatal strikes to a single area leaving the opponent either in a whole lot of pain or heavily injured.

Out of these five, Naruto only managed to master the Wind Stance. He had the basics of the Lightning Stance down, and a brief knowledge of the Fire Stance.

End of taijutsu explanation. Now where was I... Yes, Naruto left the store and headed towards the weapon shop, deciding not to be distracted after noticing Night nearing. When he reached the weapons' shop, he was glad to still see other customers as well. After browsing through the shop's stock, he noticed the weapons were of rather low quality. But fair enough, it's price was ridiculously low. It was as if they were made for simple distraction and traps.

Now the higher quality weapons were at the back. He picked up a shuriken. Felt the edge and weighed it on its hands. Now this was a weapon. A few more adjustments and the shuriken could be used to end lives. Among the pile of randomly stacked weapons, he took a a decent amount of what he needed and put it in the basket he picked up after entering.

As Naruto headed further in, his eyes being to widen considerably. This place was where the highest of the highest quality weapons they had stocked. He picked up a kunai. Its weight was incredibly light, but the metal glinted in the light, promising pain if he were to touch the edge. This kunai was most like used for throwing.

Naruto picked up another kunai, this one was heavier and the blade was longer than the other. This was used for melee combat. How he wanted these weapons... but knowing the little allowance his parents gave him, he could only afford what he had in his basket now.

Then an idea struck him. A dozen different scenarios ran through his head. Five plans formed, thirty over possible outcomes perceived. Naruto smiled. Tonight would be exciting.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Night came and beams of moon light broke the heavily clouded sky. Naruto stood on a tree observing the store. The store owner, a burly blacksmith, closed the shop and headed home for the night.

The blonde looked around. What he was about to do was dangerous. Silently, he crept towards the backdoor and pressed his back towards the wall.

Cautiously, he gripped the doorknob. Sending chakra into the doorknob, it melted because of the fire elemental chakra. The door, losing its lock, opened. Naruto crept it, but heard 'thunk' 'thunk' sounds. As if someone was practicing throwing. The blonde took a few seconds what the just thought.

SOMEONE WAS HERE! Naruto started panicking, before pulling himself together. Looking at the door's melted doorknob, he realized there was no way out of this. He was in too deep, and the only way out was with the weapons Naruto was here for. Hardening his eyes, he headed towards the front of the store, where the weapons were kept.

There they were, black metal almost camouflaging in the dark. He picked up one of them and started examining it. Yes, this was the one he wanted he slowly took several of them and sealed them in a storage scroll he always carried with him. But a sudden shout interrupted him.

"Who's there!" Naruto widened his eyes. He turned towards where the voice came from, and saw a girl. Older than him but not by much. She wore a pink, sleeveless chinese style shirt and green pants. Her brown hair was tied up in a bun and the Konoha shinobi headband on her forehead.

Then he recognized her, a sempai in the academy. A year older than him and graduated. Why was she here? Don't tell me her father owned this place.

"Who's there!" She repeated. 'She saw my face! Oh no, Oh shit, Oh crap... She cannot tell anyone.' Naruto stood up. And walked out of the darkness. _She will not tell anyone_ Naruto swiped out his butterfly knife and flipped out the blade, before reappearing behind the girl, knife in her throat.

Shock and surprise on her face as the girl fell down. Blood gushing out of the open wound as Naruto ripped out the knife. No sound was made and after staring at the bloody body for a minute, Naruto finally realized what he had done.

He collapsed, kneeling down. Naruto's legs no longer able to support himself. His eyes widened and mouth agape. Only survival instincts keeping him from yelling in shock and fear.

Naruto glanced at the bloodied knife and back at the body. Realization kicking in. He took a life. He stabbed her throat...

That night, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto for the first time in his life, killed.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Morning arrived. Naruto had been so in shock he did not even take what he came for and left. He returned to the family's mansion and entered the house. Kushina was already up making breakfast for the family and Naruto merely walked by her. She saw him but didn't say anything. She must have forgotten...

The blonde entered his room. Still shocked at what happened last night. He killed a person. Killed... And strangely, he felt no regret. It fact, a small, tiny part of him enjoyed it. Enjoyed the sound when his blade entered his victim and the satisfaction of killing.

Naruto took out his butterfly knife, still stained with last night's blood. He quickly wiped the blood off. No one must know...

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

That morning, Jin and Naruto went to the academy as usual. His brother had acted as if nothing had happened. Naruto was content with that. The last thing he needed was Jin all in his face about yesterday.

As usual, villagers came and shook his hand, greeting Jin. Aforementioned Jinchuuriki grinning in pride, arrogance and the same 'higher than thou' look on his face.

They reached the academy on time though, despite the many distractions along the way. And like every other morning, Jin sat at the right side of the Academy, and Naruto on the top left. His brother was still surrounded by dozen of students and Naruto was still seated alone.

When something caught his eyes. The dark, slightly violet hair. The pale creamy skin. The white, almost pupil-less eyes. Hyuuga Hinata. The one person, Naruto actually like in the whole village.

No, not like. More like he had a crush on her. Naruto blushed at the thought of his crush.

Anyways, as she entered the classroom, Hinata noticed something. The love of her life... **Jin.**

That's right. As hard as it was for Naruto to admit, Hinata simply adored Jin. The look in Hinata's eyes whenever she caught a glance at him, the blush that laced her cheeks everytime Jin looked at her.

Naruto hated it. Why, why did the only person he liked had to love the pampered little bastard that was his brother? That really hurt him. Knowing how his crush loved his most hated person. The heartbreak he felt when he learned of this, was almost unbearable.

But he coped. Life was not fair. That was what he learned after thirteen years of living in this shit hole village.

Hinata walked to Jin, still blushing and stuttering as she talked to him. Jin caught Naruto's glance at Hinata. Oh, he knew. His brother knew about Naruto's little crush. That was why, at every chance he got, he would do... this.

Jin got up and suddenly hugged Hinata. Whispering in her ears 'Hug me...' Said hyuuga would blush and hug him back, content. Naruto would grit his teeth in silent anger.

It was moments like these that made him contemplate just killing his brother and be done with it. But his instinct for survival overwhelmed his desire to end his brother's life.

The girls watched in envy as Jin embraced Hinata, while the boys looked in jealousy. Aforementioned Hyuuga was the cream of the crop one might say. The girl most desired in the class. She was... pure. Unlike the other skanks.

Her only undoing was her moronic crush on Jin. One might call her stupidly in love.

Class quickly went on for the day without his brother further provoking or taunting Naruto. Having learnt the lesson a day ago.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

The year passed by faster than Naruto expected. No more incidents occurred. Though his brother had continued insulting Naruto at every moment possible, the blonde had learned to just ignore Jin.

Naruto learnt a dozen more jutsus, this time a few B-ranks and the rest C-ranks. Why the sudden decrease in quality of his jutsus? Well, since Jin was 'hurt' by Naruto that day, his brother demanded to learn stronger jutsus. So the Yondaime and Jin spent more time in the jutsu library's more diverse section, leaving Naruto only able to roam around the lesser of the library.

But even with the incredibly detailed jutsu scrolls, Jin had only managed to learn a single A-ranked jutsu, which was his father's rasengan. But the little prick only managed to get past the first step after three months. That was almost laughable. And all in all it took him more than eight months to even form a complete rasengan.

Despite his father's constant tutoring and information, Jin was not even able to form the rasengan without two kage bunshins by his side to stabilize his chaotic rasengan. Jin was not able to completely control his rasengan alone, as he simply skipped the last step after spending a month on it. He had no patience and after finding out he could try to control the technique with clones, he decided to go with that instead of actually learning to use the technique properly.

Of course, once he finished it, everybody called him a genius. Who completed a technique, Naruto thought was useless after mastering it in a week, in eight months.

But I am just going off topic. Now moving on. Today was the academy graduation day. Which required them to pass a simple ninjutsu test. Now that might sound hard but.. (snicker)... they only needed to perform the three most basic jutsus in the entire history of jutsus... ever. I am serious!

The Henge, Kawarimi, and the actually lower than useless, Bunshin.

Jin was first up. But after performing the three required jutsus, in which he barely made two Bunshins that was slightly translucent. He requested for an extra test that required the student to perform their best jutsu. And of course, the teachers agreed.

Jin, like his usual cocky self, he arrogantly called out his jutsu's name. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" And two copies appeared in a poof, flanking him. Iruka clapped "Well done, Jin-kun."

Said prick smirked "I am not done yet, Iruka-sensei!" Jin gripped his right wrist with his left hand, and his right palm cupped the air. The clones repeatedly hit the air on Jin's palm.

And slowly, but surely, the familiar sphere of chakra formed within his hands. Jin smirked Then ran towards the wall "Rasengan!" He shouted and slammed the orb of chakra towards the wall. With a little **BAM!** A crater found it self on the wall with a few cracks.

Iruka's mouth was agape, eyes widened. Everyone else in the class was the same. Except for Naruto of course. He spotted so many mistakes with that technique. First off it took too long. 20 seconds approximately.

With that much time he needed, the enemy would already be able to calmly walk towards Jin and slit his throat.

Jin was also slow. Running towards the enemy with such a slow speed, would only result in the enemy using kawarimi or some other escape jutsus. But the results were shocking to say the least.

Though Naruto hated to admit it, Jin pulled off a perfect Rasengan. Albeit the method used was a little... idiotic, but the end result was a powerful and destructive attack.

Smirking at Naruto, he arrogantly yelled out "Beat that loser!" At that everybody snickered, knowing that there was no way the deadlast would be able to show Jin up.

Naruto was actually going to just try to be as normal as can be. But when Jin taunted him like that, Naruto just wanted to shove Jin's own rasengan right up his ass. But he was not going to do that.

Instead, he would do... this.

Naruto reappeared infront of Jin. "You asked for this, brother." Said blonde smirked and the familiar light gust appeared again. In a split second, a perfect rasengan was floating an inch above his palm.

Jin paled, shocked. "H-how...!" Naruto chuckled but did not reply. "Let's see me... 'beat that' as you mentioned. Let me show you the one thing our father had never been able to do. Adding an element to the rasengan."

Jin widened his eyes at that. Of course he had heard about adding an element to the rasengan from his father. Minato mentioned that he could not for his life, increase the rasengan's power by including an element to it. And now, his brother, known for being the deadlast, was going to do it?

Said Jinchuuriki could not believe it. But he remained speechless.

Naruto stared at his rasengan, before a surge of chakra made its way to the rasengan. Then, a second later, a thin thread like ring formed around the rasengan. And then another, and another. Before long, there was a dozen rings surrounding the rasengan. The ring was spinning rapidly, like a saw.

**(Like an atom, but the except the central nucleus one sphere, its bigger and its the rasengan.) **

The blonde started explaining what in the world he just did. "This is one of my prototypes. I admit I have not finished the actual thing yet. But this maybe the closest thing yet. Reaching calmly towards the wall, opposite of Jin's rasengan ruined wall, he slowly made contact between the wall and the sphere.

Before the whole class' eyes, before the wall even touched the orb, it was ground into fine dust.

**(It is hard to explain it in words, but from the way I visualize it, I assure you, it looks pretty fucking awesome.) **

Before long, there was large smooth crater adorning the wall. "Of course, it could be much more powerful, but I would not risk destroying the whole academy just to 'beat that' as Jin put it."

Everyone looked like the person from the painting 'The Scream' Mouth agape, eyes shock and surprised.

But Jin looked on with contempt, pure hatred and disdain in his eyes.

And Naruto did not realize the severity of his actions.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Done! Okay, I admit this chapter should have been uploaded much sooner. But I'm on vacation and was enjoying myself too much for writing. Now, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Oh, and here's a preview!

**Preview**

_Minato glared fiercely at Naruto. His fist buried in the younger blonde's gut. Pure wrath donned the hokage's face. While Naruto was merely shocked and scared. He hoped this was not real, but the pain in his stomach told him it was. Sometimes, Naruto just really, really hated this village. _

**End Preview!**

Look out for the next chapter of The Hero's Brother! Please review and tell me what you think.

_Seriously, review._

_Well if you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (evil laughter) _


	6. Beginning of the end

The Hero's Brother Chapter Five

Disclaimer : Not in a mood for a witty disclaimer, so I'm just going to go with 'I don't own Naruto, or anything related whatsoever.'

Author's Notes : Hi guys! This is... chapter five of The Hero's Brother if I'm not wrong.

First off, an announcement. Exams are coming up... again. Way too soon if you ask me. Anyways, the next chapter will be in another month or so since I need to study and whatnot. So just bear with me for this month as I set out on the courageous quest of not failing every subject.

Next, I know that my last chapter showed Naruto's affection to Hinata, but I will remind you guys again. There will be NO pairing. Just continue reading this story and see how everything turns out. So, sorry NxH fans out there.

And, I decided to change my sort of writing style a bit. From now on this is _(thinking)_ OK?

Finally, just enjoy this chapter, okay?

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

The academy released the students early after the genin exam was completed. They had to collate the results and determine team assignments. Seeing nothing to do, Jin returned home together. Naruto not wanting to show his brother his training, went along with it, knowing that if Naruto said he was going to train, there was no doubt Jin would follow him.

On the way home, Jin had to barely repress the cocky smirk on his face. Naruto unknowing of his brother's agenda.

Once they reached the Namikaze mansion, Jin immediately went off to find his father while Naruto went to his room in order to try to meditate.

Meditation was a frequent hobby of Naruto's. It kept him calm and often cooled him down a particular agonizing event. He found meditation a simple yet complicated practice. It required a calm and even blank state of mind. Those that could not keep from thinking stuff were just left sitting there, not accomplishing much.

A few minutes later, Naruto was in his room, finally settling into the calm and almost tranquility of his room. His room was simple. Only containing very basic furniture. A bed, a study desk, a wardrobe and a book shelf. On the window sill was a simple bonsai tree he had cultivated since what happened four years ago. (Okay, quick A/N. In my timeline graduation is at fourteen. I kinda messed up the timeline, I guess. If you had read my other stories, the age of graduation is always thirteen.)

The peaceful atmosphere was suddenly broken by his door being broken down. Naruto opened his eyes and was treated to a foot flying towards his face. He quickly rolled out of the way and stood up but a fist found its way to his gut.

Minato glared fiercely at Naruto. His fist buried in the younger blonde's gut. Pure wrath donned the Hokage's face, while Naruto was merely shocked and scared. He hoped this was not real, but the pain in his stomach told him it was. Sometimes, Naruto just really really hated this village.

"You used my jutsu and humiliated your brother in front of the whole class... the fact that you stole my own technique angered me. But to show up your brother in front of his peers, is unforgivable." the Yondaime spat before another fist smashed Naruto's face.

The newly graduated genin glared at his father on the floor. His heavily bruised right cheek was swollen. His father could hit really hard.

"You little bastard. I believe it is time to teach you a fucking lesson in respecting your superiors" Minato declared while cracking his knuckles. What he said translated in to "I am going to beat you up for disrespecting your brother."

Naruto only closed his eyes before rains of attacks rained on his body.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Ten minutes after, Minato left the room. His fist was covered in blood, though not a drop his own. Naruto lay on the flood, broken and battered. Bruises and cuts covered his entire body. His shirt had been ripped off by his father after said hokage noticed thin metal plates in between the fabric.

"Why?" Naruto whispered as his consciousness threated to leave him. He weakly drew a rather complicated small squarish seal with his own blood on the floor. Naruto formed a Serpent hand seal and focused a large amount of chakra in his hands. He then directed the chakra to the seal he drew and released a held breath as his wounds began to heal. Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique. An A-ranked medical ninjutsu used during operations and surgery by medical shinobi.

Normally, a larger seal is drawn and would take a longer time to heal but that's only with life threatening wounds.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as the pain that wrecked his entire body quickly vanished. After this entire body was healed, he released the chakra, with a slight pant. The jutsu normally required four people to conduct and hours to complete, but Naruto was naturally a chakra powerhouse, a genetic trait from his father, so only a few minutes was required, especially only for external wounds.

Unknowingly, a tear fell from his eye. _(I don't know how much of this I can take... I might really, really be tempted to follow Itachi's foot steps.) _

Pulling himself together, he walked towards his wardrobe and pulled out a some clothes. Looking at this pants, he decided to change his blood covered clothing.

Naruto changed into a black shirt with a high collar, that had long sleeves on the left and regular sleeves on the right. He strapped a hidden blade holder on his left wrist, concealed by the long sleeve that covered his entire left arm. (Hidden blade from Assassin's Creed. Those who played the game before would know how freaking badass it is.) And a gray vest with multiple pockets on top.

For his lower body, he wore a long pair of baggy khaki pants, also with many pockets. A black loose belt wrapped around his waist that had four pouches strapped on the back of the belt. The belt that a sort of magnetic attraction to his pants due to several seals so enemies would not be able to grab the belt.

He also wore a comfortable pair of black, military combat boots. It was steel toed and had a sleek Kukri knife in his right boot. The Kukri knife has a curved blade, mostly used close combat or even as a throwing weapon. In the hands of a ninja, it can be seved as a decapitation tool. The curved knife providing easy cutting into the rounded neck of the victim.

With a heavy sigh, Naruto decided to go train, just to forget what happened.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

The next day quickly arrived. On the way to the academy, Jin kept sending arrogant glances to Naruto. Mocking him, as if asking him 'Now do you know what happens when you mess with me?'

The blonde merely ignored his childish brother. Today was team assignments, and Naruto was not an expert in stealth for nothing. He snuck into his father's office and took a long glimpse at the list. He noted the people he paid special attention to. Team 7 included Namikaze Jin, Aburame Shino and at the last name Naruto almost yelled out in anger. Hyuuga Hinata. Sensei being Hatake Kakashi.

Team 8 included Inuzuka Kiba, Ino Yamanaka and Akimichi Chouji. Quite a reasonable team. Kiba was the tracker of the team. Ino, the information gatherer and capture specialist. Chouji the main assault and tank of the team. Their formation was – Find, immobilize, crush. Sensei being Sarutobi Asuma.

Team 10 included Namikaze Naruto, Nara Shikamaru and Kurogane Kagami. This team however, made no sense to Naruto. They probably piled anyone left over into this team.

But Naruto was indifferent to his teammates, maybe slightly glad. Shikamaru wasn't bad. He could have gotten worse, of course. Besides, from what he had observed, Shikamaru was a genius nearing Naruto's caliber. Only his lack of motivation prevented him from soaring to high places.

Kagami was not bad as well. Though not a genius he could still hold his own against a fight. He was fifth place in the boy's ranking system. He was a basically unknown character. Nothing special, completely inconspicuous. He was just one of his classmates as much as Naruto figured. The blonde would have to observe him a little more if he was going to be his teammate.

Just so you not be confused, let me explain the ranking system. Jin was first, Second being Shino. Third, Kiba. Fourth, an Oc. Fifth being Kagami. Though Naruto was pretty sure Kagami or anyone above him could take on Jin with no trouble.

But it was his sensei that surprised him. No, he was astonished, astounded, stunned, stupefied, dumbfounded, flabbergasted and every other synonym that exists.

His sensei was... Danzo. How was that even possible! He was once an ANBU commanded, not to mention he was already nearing his seventies. Danzo was already retired but why was he a sensei now? What was his father thinking? It appeared that Naruto had to get what he wanted to know from Danzo himself, and the very idea appalled to him.

In class, Iruka spared no delay. He gave a boring five minutes speech to the newly graduates, about shinobi responsibility, and the dangers of being Ninja, so on so forth. After that, he immediately got to announcing team placement. Team 1 – 6 was merely canon fodder, so fast forward to after team placement was announced.

After every team was fished away, only Team 7 and Team 10 was left. Glances were thrown between the two teams, but only Shino and Naruto remained impassive and ignored the other team.

Jin was seated with his team, Shino and Hinata flanking him. While Naruto was flanked by Shikamaru and Kagami. The Nara had his head laid on the table but eyes weres still opened. Apparently the tense atmosphere was keeping him from actually falling asleep. Kagami was merely sharpening his tanto.

Naruto would occasionally glance at Hinata and let a small smile adorn his face. Of course, Jin once again did not miss it and after Naruto's third glance, Jin wrapped his arm around Hinata's shoulder. Smirking at Naruto's frown. The jinchuuriki mouthed the words 'She belongs to me' to Naruto. (Interesting Fact, I got Jin's name from the term JINchuuriki.)

Hinata of course turned beep red at the contact while Naruto as almost tempted to shove Sin in Jin's throat. (Sin is Naruto's right butterfly knife, remember?)

A few minutes passed by before a masked shinobi appeared in the classroom with a puff of smoke. The mas was simple, with two slits for eye holes and several small holes near the nose and mouth, presumably for breathing and speech.

He knelt down on one knee "Team 10, You are required to meet Danzo-sama at Training Ground R-01 near the southern section of the village. Please be there in half an hour." And with that, the shinobi disappeared in another puff of smoke.

_(Tch, I did not put it pass that old war hawk to actually send a messenger to inform us of his whereabouts.) _Naruto thought almost criticizing Danzo.

Looking towards Shikamaru and Kagami, he gave a hand gesture as if to say 'Follow me, I know where it is.'

Training Ground R-01, which represented Root-01 was a training ground used specifically by Root Anbu. When they were still around officially. Now, it appeared it was still used by the Root, unofficially.

When they reached the Training Ground, they merely found Danzo seated on the flood, meditating. Sensing their presence a mile away, he opened his one good eye.

"Come, take a seat." Danzo said, gesturing at the open space in front of him. Not wanting to disobey their first order from their newest sensei, they complied and sat facing Danzo.

"Now, let's start with introductions." The ex-ANBU commander started, but was interrupted by Naruto. "_Sensei_," Said blonde reluctantly started, "I am sure we would prefer some privacy, so if you do not mind, could you please remove the five ninja hidden?" He finished, staring straight at Danzo.

The old war hawk looked surprised for a moment, before chuckling and snapped his fingers. Naruto immediately felt the five shinobi's presence vanish. "Now, I will start first" Danzo declared.

"My name is Danzo Shimura. I am an ex-ANBU commander of the Root ANBU. I am now your sensei until the Hokage decides to change this." Then he motioned towards Shikamaru.

The Nara merely muttered 'Troublesome' before continuing. "My name is Nara Shikamaru. I am the heir of the Nara clan." He finished but Danzo urged him to continue, after saying "Tell us your likes, dislikes, hobbies and dream."

With a heavy sigh, Shikamaru continued "I like sleeping, I guess. I don't like doing troublesome things. I don't have much of a hobby, but I do play Shogi frequently. As for dreams... I just want to be a regular shinobi. Marry a regular wife, not very beautiful and not very ugly. Have two kids, a girl and a boy, and die before my wife."

Danzo nodded but inwardly he was thinking. _(I have read his profile. Says here, he has an IQ as high as 200. A lazy genius, hm? I would have to beat that lazy attitude out of him I guess.)_

Then he motioned towards Kagami.

Kurogane Kagami was a average looking fourteen year old, with raven black hair spiked towards the back and a few bangs in front of his fore head. He wore a black muscle shirt and black basic ANBU issued pants with black shinobi sandals. He also wore black shoulder pads. (Think Zack Fair from FF7 crisis core)

"My name is Kurogane Kagami. I do not belong to a clan though my family have been shinobi since the Shodaime's era. I like training and learning new jutsus. I dislike weaklings and civilians. My hobby is training and my dream is to master my family's kenjutsu style and become an exceptional shinobi, worthy of being a legend."

Danzo nodded again. _(An average genin though slightly skilled. He would be a good teammate to compliment the two other's skills though his hair style and name reminds me of my late team mate. Wait, why am I reminiscing about the past?) _

Lastly, he gestured towards Naruto. Said blonde seemed to contemplate his words before speaking. "My name is Namikaze Naruto. I am the son of Namikaze Minato, the current Yondaime Hokage. I like training as well. I do not dislike many things and my hobby is to train too. My dream, no, I promise to be... the strongest shinobi the world will ever see." Naruto had to admit he lied about some of the things he said but the last part, he was completely serious.

Nobody laughed, nobody said anything except Danzo who mentioned that it was a good dream.

"Now as you may or may not know, very jounin sensei will give a post academy graduation, genin test. To see if any of you are worthy of actually becoming shinobi. Regularly, the most common test would be to test your teamwork but I do not think the same way. I believe Fighting capability is most important, as a result, my test will be a 1-on-1 with one my shinobi." Danzo explained before snapping his fingers again. And behind the three genin stood three Root ANBU.

"These three are all chuunin level shinobi. I do not expect you to win but I will judge if you are able to proceed as a genin after this test. Now, any questions?" Naruto immediately asked "Can we... kill them?" Danzo chuckled "If you manage to kill them, I might put in a a word or two to the hokage of immediately promoting you to Chuunin." Both knew that was not possible but Naruto still looked forward to spilling their blood.

Surprisingly, the three Root anbu took no offense tat Naruto's question. One would thought an ANBU would be angry that the _deadlast_ even thought he could kill them. But they just stood there like statues.

"Who wishes to start first?" Naruto immediately smirked. Danzo nodded and one of the ANBU operatives stepped forward and led Naruto to a empty grass field.

"Hajime!" Danzo declared and Naruto performed several handseals before shouting out his jutsu's name. "Raiton : Yoroi" Immediately, a yellow colored cackling armor of electricity surrounded Naruto.

Surprised by the use of such a high level the Root Anbu momentarily flinched, that was his first mistake. Naruto caught him by surprise with a kick. The chuunin barely dodged it though the kick grazed his cheek. Immediately, he cold feel the numbing electricity running through his veins. But only years of training did he avoid being paralyzed.

The chuunin then formed several handseals and blew out a large fireball "Katon : Goukayuu no jutsu" The massive ball of flames flew towards Naruto and the blonde countered with a Suiton : Suijinheki. A wall of water formed in front of Naruto. What shocked the Root operative was the Naruto actually took the water in the grass below him to form the wall of water.

"Suiton : Daibakufu no jutsu!" A miniature version of the actual technique that should have risen several dozen meters high, but because of the lack of water, the technique was only a meter and a half high. The water flew towards the ANBU. But before said root chuunin could counter, Naruto immediately followed up with a Raiton : Kangekiha. A pulse of electricity mixed with the torrent of water, made it a deadly combination.

Only reflexes trained over the years allowed the chuunin to perform seals faster than usual and have a Doton : Doryuheki to block the electrified wave of water.

The Root operative unsheathed his katana that was strapped behind his back. With a quiet whisper of "Katon : Hi no Yaiba" The blade was immersed in flames. That was his second mistake. He already knew Naruto either had a water affinity or well versed in suiton jutsus yet he continued using a fire technique against him.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at his choice of jutsu. All the while, his team mates had their jaw wide open. The class deadlast was this powerful? They had no idea. Perhaps what he said at the beginning of the year was correct. Did the yondaime really swap Jin's grades with Naruto? Danzo was also immensely surprised by did not show it outwardly. He knew Naruto was talented and even gifted, but to think it was to this extent... with his training, Naruto could be even stronger than Itachi.

But he frowned at his own lightning jutsu. The Raiton : Yoroi was supposed to grant the user light speed reflexes. Yet he could never attain that type of mastery over this technique, no matter how much he practiced.

The Root Chuunin eyed his opponent before charging forward, fire sword in hand. Normally, the Hi no Yaiba technique allowed the user to form a blade of fire with nothing but chakra. But coupled with an actual sword, the potency of the jutsu was doubled.

Naruto smirked at the simplistic way the Chuunin attacked him. Forming several handseals, naruto yelled "Fuuton : Kaze Teikou" (Wind resistance) And suddenly the Chuunin felt a force pushing against him. It wasn't blowing him away but as if something was preventing him from moving forward. It took at least thrice the effort to move forward.

The blonde grinned and formed several hand seals. " Fuuton : Tempesta no Mai" (Dance of the tempest)

And a second later, dozens of wind blades appeared all around the battlefield. The next thing the Chuunin knew, they were all flying at him. He tried to jump away, honest! But Naruto's wind resistance jutsu kept him on the ground and the next moment, the root anbu's blood bathed the green grass.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. Before panting a little. Using 3 A ranked and 3 B ranked ninjutsu was a little exhausting.

He heard clapping from Danzo. Said war hawk was grinning almost manically. "Absolutely amazing. Incredible. Just incredible. I was not lying when I said my shinobi was chuunin ranked. And from what I have just seen, Naruto you might even be jounin level. Said blonde stared at Danzo for a while deep in thought for a second, before walking away and joining his teammates.

Though he stopped halfway. "I believe he at least deserves a proper burial." Naruto mentioned before forming several handseals "Doton : Tsuchi no maisou" (Earth Burial) the ground around what was left of the root chuunin wrapped around it and dragged his remains below ground.

He then sat down with his teammates, unaffected by their stares and awe struck looks.

"Next" Danzo merely said and another of his ninja stepped forward. This time, Shikamaru stepped forward and they were led to another field. "Hajime!" And the battle started.

Neither moved. Both looking at their opponents, trying to find a weak spot in their stances. And after a minute of the stare-off, Shikamaru grinned. He threw several kunais and shurikens at the chuunin, at the root operative countered with his own projectiles. The battle unofficially started and both the chuunin ran towards the Nara. Unsheathing a tanto similar to the late root chuunin, he prepared to slash Shikamaru.

The Nara merely dropped a smoke bomb which burst into large quantities of purple colored smoke and jumped out of the way before an explosion rocked the field.

The smoke quickly cleared and the root chuunin was revealed. A little roughed up with a few slight burns on exposed skin, but nothing serious. What the root operative thought was a escape method turned out to be a dangerous trap. He had not seen the genin drop the explosive tag when the smoke bomb obscured his sight.

Shikamaru smirked him hurting the chuunin had guaranteed his passing of the genin exam but to give up now was too troublesome. More troublesome than continuing the fight.

The only way he could win was to successfully use the shadow possession on the enemy. A few plans was already running through his head. But each of them was almost improbable. Then something clicked in his head. Of course, of course. It was so simple, yet he did not see it before.

The Nara crouched down. Stabbing a kunai on the floor. Then he threw several projectiles at the ANBU, and the chuunin responded by deflecting the thrown weapons with his tanto. Shikamaru reached into his pouch. Good, he at least had sufficient tools to utilize his plan.

He fished out several explosive kunais (Regular kunai but attached to an explosion note) and threw it at the root chuunin. This time, he dodged it by jumping away. But after a few seconds nothing happened. _(A dummy note!) _The root ANBU thought before seeing a kunai fly towards his head. He calmly bended his neck, and dodged the attack. Before widening his eyes.

His entire body was suddenly immobile. He look towards his shadow, immediately concluded that he was somehow caught in the Nara clan's famous shadow jutsu, and he was right.

A thin strand of shadow was connected between Shikamaru and the ANBU. _(How!) _Naruto smirked as did Danzo, but Kagami looked confused.

Shikamaru's plan was simple. When he stabbed the kunai into the ground, he did not do it just for nothing. The Nara discreetly activated the Shadow Possession technique and he enveloped the kunai with his shadow.

Then he threw several kunai and shuriken at the ANBU to make him think the unskilled genin could only throw projectiles and nothing else. Before pulling out the explosive kunai. That was the epitome of his plan. He threw those kunai in order to force the chuunin into another position, as well as to distract him.

As the technique he was going to use needed a clear straight path with no shadow hindering. With the few seconds of distraction, Shikamaru found an opening. He plucked out the shadow imbued kunai from the ground and threw it at the root chuunin. A strand of shadow was connected to the kunai's shadow and to Shikamaru's shadow as it flew to the root operative.

And just like he predicted, the root ANBU believed the kunai was as poor effort to injure him while distracted, and merely bend his head to dodge it. That was when the strand of shadow connected to the ANBU's own shadow.

"Kage Kunai Mane no jutsu... Success!" (Shadow Kunai Possession) Shikamaru declared smirking.

_(I can't believe I was caught in that shadow jutsu... no, it was not luck. It was a plan that used my own arrogance against me. This kid is a genius...) _The ANBU operative thought while mentally praising Shikamaru.

"Normally, this would be where I defeat you... but," Shikamaru started. "But that be too troublesome to do, so I give up..." He ended while releasing the jutsu. He stood up and walked back towards this teammates.

Danzo looked pleased. Though the young genin had not defeated his ninja, it was still quite an accomplishment. Nara Shikamaru... pass.

"Next" Danzo said and the last root chuunin stepped forward while Kagami unsheathed his tanto. Seeing the genin take out his sword, so did the root anbu.

Upon seeing his opponent's tanto, he immediately kept his tanto. The root chuunin raised an eyebrow but did not say anything. Then Kagami unsealed a katana.

The katana looked simple, but had a awe-inspiring aura. A swallow was engraved near the scabbard mouth and the handle was wrapped in fine silk. Kagami then spoke. "Allow me to introduce myself again. My name is Kurogane Kagami, user of the Shigure Souen Ryu." Kagami started "This is my companion, Shigure Kintoki." He gestured towards his sword.

Seeing his student was finisihed Danzo declared "Hajime!"

"Shajiku no Ame!" (Axle of Rain) He shouted and with charged forward and attacked with a swift thrust. The root operative jumped back at the last second. "Utsushi Ame!" (Duplicate Rain) Kagami shouted and using his suiton chakra, he formed a tidal wave of water with his sword. His reflection could still be seen through the water though. But suddenly, a glint of light came from above which caused the root chuunin to look up and saw a sword strike headed towards him. He quickly dodged.

Kagami slashed downwards, narrowly missing his target. Using the lack of distance as an advantage, he yelled his next attack. "Samidare!" (Early Summer Rain) And slashed towards the right, the root anbu again barely dodged the attack but did not foresee the next slash. Midway of the slash, Kagami dropped his sword and switching hands, he slashed upwards with his left hand. A small cut found its way the root anbu's arm.

Seeing his attack failing, Kagami jumped back immediately and panted heavily. That combination of attack almost exhausted his repertoire of his family's kenjutsu style. But there was one move though... Well, it was do or die.

But before Kagami could do anything the opponent charged forward, tanto in hand. Kagami smirked and jumped up and slashed downwards, his katana landed on the opponent's tanto. But the root chuunin widened his eyes. His body unmovable. The genin smirked before declaring his attack. "Attacco di Squalo!"

Attacco di Squalo is a shockwave attack which turns a powerful blow into an oscillating wave that stuns the opponent's muscle, leaving the enemy immobile.

Kagami's smirk widened and knocked the root anbu out with the blunt side of his katana. Or so he thought. The root chuunin immediately disappeared with a poof.

"Do you think you are the only swordsman?" And suddenly, Kagami's world blacked out. The chuunin Kagami had thought he struck down stood before his fallen body. "Dance of the cresent moon..." He muttered before heading back towards Danzo.

This time, the ex-ANBU commander shook his head. Kurogane Kagami... fail. It was regretful to say the least. The boy had potential. But was too blinded by arrogance to see a simple trick.

He then ordered the root chuunin to place Kagami's body leaning against the tree and after doing so, the second and third root anbu promptly disappeared with a poof of smoke.

"Congratulations, you two passes." Danzo said while Naruto and Shikamaru gave each other a look. "What about Kagami?" Naruto asked. Danzo shook his head "The other genin failed my test."

Shikamaru glared at Danzo. Though Kagami and him were not close, he was till his teammate "Why? He did good against your shinobi." He tried to defend his unconscious teammate. "He lost. He believed that he won and could not see past a simple B – ranked kenjutsu technique due to his cocky attitude. I will repeat myself once more." Danzo glared at Shikamaru "He **Failed**."

The Nara looked unsatisfied with the answer but knew better than to argue. Naruto had no outwardly expression but he did ask a question. "What happens now, genin teams are suppose to be four men cells." Danzo nodded "Your failure of a teammate shall be replaced with a genin on standby due to insufficient numbers."

"Now, return home and rest well. Tomorrow you will be introduced to your new team mate and start missions. Is that clear?" Danzo asked. After seeing he only received reluctant nods, he asked again, this time louder. "**Is That Clear?**" Both genin replied "Yes Sensei." _(Good...) _

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Done. Did not expect that did you? You must be wondering why in the world did this happen? How did Danzo become their sensei! Or something along these lines. Well, Minato is pretty stupid at these kinds of things. That is my answer. But if you insist, I will include a more detailed explanation on the next chapter.

Now, let me explain some things. You may have noticed some characters are missing from my story. First off, Kurenai does not exist in my story because that would totally mess up my jounin sensei placement. I _wanted_ Danzo to be Naruto's sensei.

Next, Sakura quit. Yes, she quit the academy after Sasuke was killed because she is a pathetic Sasuke fangirl.

That's about it. Hoped you enjoyed the story. Please review and tell me what you think.

_Seriously, review. _

_Well, if you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (evil laughter) _


	7. Insanity's Rebirth Chuunin Exams Part 1

The Hero's Brother Chapter Six

Disclaimer : Kishimoto, you bastard, I am here for my Naruto! Whoa, don't press that button. Do not press that button. DON'T! **BOOM** _I told you not to press that button _

Author's notes : Okay, I am currently on a study break after four hours of repeatedly looking through my text books and notes, being bored to death. So, this is the sixth chapter of The Hero's Brother...

First off, to answer some of you guys' questions. So **PAY ATTENTION**

1)No Naruto will not have sexual relations with anyone, yet. So don't be looking forward to any lemons for all you horn dogs out there. You know who I'm talking about.

2)He will have friends of course. Well, not a 'buddy buddy' relationship but people he can talk to without having to contemplate murder.

3)I come up with ideas while writing so some of you might notice my writing is very... choppy.

4)Many of you have been complaining about my A/Ns in the middle of the story. I am sorry if that discomforts you, I will _try_ to not do that so much.

5) Kushina is just too blinded by love for her husband and son(Jin) to see anything else, really.

6) Still thinking about summoning thingy.

Okay, now, just enjoy the story!

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Danzo entered the Hokage's office reluctantly, knowing that the irksome Hokage was in the room. How he hated that blonde brat. He was only that chair because the Sandaime was too stupid to realize what a lousy leader he is before naming him as his successor. But he still had to get the mission before meeting his team.

"Team 10 reporting for a mission, Minato." The Hokage eyed Danzo with disdain. Angry at the blatant disrespect Danzo was showing. But then again, he could not do anything anyways. Danzo was too important to Konoha to simply _disappear_.

"You will address with as much respect as my title deserves, Danzo." The blonde shot back with as disrespect as well. The old war hawk glared at the impudent whelp. If it was not for protocols, he would have just taken a mission scroll from the table and walked away.

But, he had to keep formalities and as much as he hated it, he would have to comply. "Understood, _Hokage-sama_." Minato smirked, thinking he had won.

The yondaime randomly picked a scroll from desk and offered it to Danzo. The ex-ANBU commander looked at the mission's rank and immediately frowned. "I believe my team deserves a much higher rank than a simple D-ranked chore that pays next to nothing."

Minato almost laughed. "Please, do not tell me you believe a team with the Deadlast and second last qualifies for even a C-ranked mission. Even a D-rank, I believe would be too much for my son."

Danzo merely stared on. "_Hokage-sama_" He spat out as if it was poison "My team is much, much more skilled and efficient than you believe. At least two or even three times better than any other genin team." Minato glared at him.

"Was that an insult? You just claimed my son's team to be weaker than your team of garbage." The war hawk smirked. "Of course not, _Hokage-sama_, I did not meant for my words to be taken to offence. I am merely stating what I think. My team is better than your son's genin team. That is all."

The blonde hokage growled. He snatched a B-ranked mission from the desk and shoved it in Danzo's hands. "Well then let's see how your useless team survive this!"

The ROOT commander smirked. "Thank you Hokage-sama." And he turned around to leave. _(Hook, Line, Sinker. Too easy, Minato. You are too easy to manipulate because of your arrogance. Too brash and headstrong, like I had told Sarutobi...) _

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Naruto was leaning against a tree while waiting for Danzo, while his other teammate, Shikamaru was lying on the ground asleep. The blonde genin eyed the lazy genius with curiosity. Sleeping... was that all he did?

If the Nara could put in half of Naruto's efforts he could be a very skilled shinobi. But what was holding him back? Fear of rejection? Fear of corruption? But was there even a need to fear anything when you could be one of the strongest shinobi in the world?

But knowing and familiar with the phrase, "Curiosity killed the cat" Naruto decided to leave Shikamaru be. After all, a nosy ninja, is a dead ninja. The blonde would just go along, get along. After he becomes chuunin, they probably won't stay as a team anyways.

A few minutes later, Naruto's mental clock reached 8am and Shikamaru snapped opened his eyes. Together with Danzo was a kid.

The stranger had short ink-black hair, with extremely pale skin, almost white and ink black eyes. He wore a regular long-sleeved black shirt, black shinobi pants taped off at the end and black shinobi sandals. His only weapons was the tanto strapped to his back and a scroll strapped to his waist.

His face betrayed no emotion other than the cold indifference that all Root member had. Which immediately told Naruto and Shikamaru this person was one of Danzo's subordinates.

"This boy's name is Sai, he will be joining you two as a member of Team Ten." Danzo said and seeing a raised eyebrow from Naruto, he quickly continued "Do not worry about his fighting capabilities, he will be more than sufficient as your teammate, I personally tested him myself." A quick nod from Naruto and Danzo continued.

"I have received your first mission from the Hokage," Danzo started before being interrupted, "What is it, painting a fence? Cleaning the farm?" Shikamaru asked, uninterested.

Danzo glared at the Nara. "First off, do not interrupt me, and secondly, no. We will be traveling to a civilian village near the borders of Fire Country. There we will be performing a mission for the mayor of the town." The ANBU commander explained.

"What mission?" Naruto asked, truly curious. Normally the first mission of a genin team would be simple chores around the village that required little to no effort. But having to travel out of the village to perform their first mission? That really peeked Naruto's interest.

Danzo smirked "Assassination." At this both Naruto and Shikamaru' eyes widened. "Oi, oi. You are kidding right?" This was extremely shocking to say the least. Assassination? Not like Naruto did not like it, but such an extreme mission right off the bat... this was simply astonishing.

"No I am not. This mission is ranked B. In this village, there is a civil war going on. There is the mayor's forces, and the rebel forces. The details of their civil war is not of our concern. We were hired to assassinate the leader of the rebel forces, in order to outright flatten the rebels' morale." Danzo explained, eyeing the genin's reaction. Naruto looked calculating, a little excited and still retained the initial shock. While Shikamaru had a mix of apathy and astonishment. And Sai had no emotion whatsoever. Good, that meant Root trained him well.

"Our target's name is Yamamoto Shinji. He is considered a hero amongst the village for driving bandits away. But still that is none of our concern. We have received our target. There shall be no hesitation once the mission begins. So if either of you wishes to back out now, you will be sent on to the genin reserve list and be replaced." Danzo waited for an answer, though inwardly knowing neither of them would be willing to back out of this.

Seeing no reaction, Danzo continued. "Good, now, return and prepare for at least a three day trip. In an hour from now, we shall meet at the northern gate and head off immediately. You are dismissed." The two wasted no time and left leaving Danzo and Sai.

The Anbu commander turned to the pale genin. "Sai, your role in this team is to be your teammate's support in battle. Do not do more than what is necessary but you are cleared to do anything you have to. But most importantly, you are to watch them. Especially the Namikaze. Understood?"

Sai merely nodded. "Good..."

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Naruto entered the Namikaze mansion he was greeted with the sight of his brother greedily inhaling a large bowl of what he calls 'the food of the gods' which was ramen. Jin was clumsily slurping the soup and spilling drops of the broth everywhere. That, had to be the highest form of bad table manners.

Noticing his presence, Jin turned to face Naruto, and the blonde crinkled his face in disgust. Strands of noodles were hanging off his face, while his entire lower face was covered in its soup. With out noticing his own little problem, Jin began to mock Naruto. Mentioning his deadlast position, and how useless he was, the usual.

And as usual, Naruto merely ignored his brother and went to his room to pack for his journey. He took a few pairs of clothing, quite like the ones he had on now and sealed them into a storage scroll. Then he 'acquired' some ninja tools from his brother's room. That idiot would probably think he misplaced them anyways.

He left the house in 30 minutes after sealing a dozen energy bars, one of them would guarantee his energy for the whole day.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Reaching the northern gate, he was met by Shikamaru who was already gazing at the sky while lying on his back. Deciding to test his fellow teammate, he asked him. "What do you think of this?"

Shikamaru lazily opened one eye and looked at Naruto who was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. "If you mean this mission, then I think it would be really troublesome."

Naruto smirked at the underlying meaning of that word. "I agree..."

Their sensei soon arrived with Sai in tow and they quickly left for their mission.

The journey there was highly uneventful though Danzo explained several of his rules.

The first rule is to never show emotions in battle. The second rule was to never become familiar with their client or other people there. The third and most important rule was to never have any emotions for anyone other than yourselves.

They soon arrived at the village within a one day trip. Team ten was currently staked out outside of the village's surrounding forest. Merely two guards were posted at the village gates and from the looks of it, four konoha shinobis weren't going to be let in easily. Of course, they were not supposed to reveal themselves just yet.

This B-ranked mission was to be a covert mission. A strictly stealthy assassination that would not be traced back to Konohagakure, otherwise assassinating a civilian without ninja guards would be only considered a C-rank at most.

It would be too easy to sneak in and kill the leader in his sleep, or even a well thrown shuriken or kunai would be capable enough to kill him. But the client repeatedly instructed the shinobi hired to use civilian methods to kill Yamamoto Shinji. And Danzo decided poison would be very much easier.

The ANBU commander looked over at his team and after some consideration, decided Naruto to sneak in and poison the rebel's drinking water. The blonde smirked and immediately accepted. And when the Namikaze left, Sai was instructed to shadow the blonde and report every detail to Danzo.

Danzo and Shikamaru then stayed in the forest, where the Root leader supposedly utter creamed Shikamaru in shogi.

More on Naruto's assassination now.

The blonde sneaked in to the village rather easily, the security was almost non-existent. There were several patrols but none of them were observant enough to notice a ninja traveling from their rooftops. The rebel faction was located near the west of the village, and that was Naruto's destination. And also realizing Danzo sent his other teammate to follow him was quite insulting.

Naruto reached the rebels' stronghold, which was a hospital-turned-fortress. Wooden stakes was littered around the front of the fortress while guards armed with bows and arrows were placed at the rooftop. And the only unsealed exit which was the front was guarded by a dozen armed guards. But none of them was important. For Naruto _was_ a ninja, and he certainly had means to slip around this barricade of guards.

Forming several handseals, he quietly whispered out "Kagero no jutsu" (Mayfly technique) And he quickly sunk into the ground. From his point of view, he was underground and could look upwards. His method of travel was kind of like swimming but without the pedaling. He was almost twice as slow as he was on land.

Naruto reached the hospital's kitchen. Inside were several cooks preparing food for half the village's population. A rather extravagant dinner comprising of steak and wine was assumed to be the leader's dinner and a pinch of good old poison powder was added into the steak without anyone noticing Naruto.

The blonde immediately performed a shunshin in the grounda and returned to his sensei to report a mission completed.

Danzo then brought his team to the mayor to report mission complete. That was then, the mission received its first little twist.

The mayor, a fat pig of a man was looking through several documents before hastily speaking to Team Ten. "Mission changed. I as the client, now upgrade this mission to A-rank. You four are to slaughter all of the rebels now!"

Danzo looked at the fat man unimpressed "I am sorry, but this A-ranked mission shall be considered a separate mission form the B-rank. You will have to pay us for both the first mission and this one as well." The mayor sputtered in-dignifiedly before reluctantly agreeing. "The rebel faction have decided for one last attack at our forces for revenge. If we truly clash right now, there will be many casualties, and our village cannot afford to..." The mayor started explaining but was interrupted by Danzo.

"We do not need an explanation. We shall perform and task you ask of us as long as a substantial fee is paid of course. Now, we shall move out." And with that, team ten turned and prepared for the incoming battle.

On the way to meet the rebels in battle, Shikamaru gulped and asked Danzo what Naruto had wished to enquire as well. "Are we going to... kill?"

Danzo raised an eyebrow "What's wrong, we ninjas were raised to kill." Shikamaru looked down and did not reply.

Naruto however had a manic expression on his face. He had not imagined that the thought of slaughtering a bunch of helpless civilians would excite him so much. This was it, Naruto decided. He had finally found the thing that excited him so greatly. He felt... _ALIVE!_

Team Ten met the opposing forces. If anyone who saw that did not know better, they would probably think the four was walking into a bloodbath. But the rebels said nothing. Anger consumed their entire being and all they could think was to kill anyone that helped the mayor.

With a battle roar, they shouted "For Shinji!" And they charged at the Konoha shinobi, weapons drawn. Swords, pitchforks, shovels, basically anything metal they could lay their hands on.

Naruto could on longer contain his excitement, he decided to start things off with a Bang! He formed several handseals and shouted out the name of one of his strongest katon jutsus. "Katon : Gokaryuendan!" (Great Dragon Flame Bullet) The oncoming massive inferno ate away a fifth of the rebels army.

But they did not stop, or falter even a little. That put a smile on Danzo and Naruto's face. Sai then unleashed his attack. He swiped out his scroll and paintbrush. He infused his chakra into the ink and drew two lions and he shouted "Choju-giga" (Super beast imitation picture) And the two ink lions burst from the scroll seemingly with a life of its own.

The two lions ran towards the rebel forces and with their claws and fangs began to take out several of them.

Shikamaru also played his part. Though reluctant, he began to throw explosive kunais and using Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu (Shuriken shadow Clone) Which killed many of the rebels as well.

Danzo on the other hand just watched as his three genin massacre the civilians. Though armed, they were no match for highly trained shinobi after all.

With Naruto, the blonde was enjoying himself far too much. His kunai was slitting throats here and there. The Namikaze then formed several handseals. "Fuuton : Daikamaitachi no jutsu!" (Great Sickle Weasel technique) And watched in morbid fascination as blades of wind sliced apart multiple sword wielding fools.

Blood bathed the entirety of Naruto. Liquid dripped down his hair, a mixture of sweat and blood. Not a drop was his own though. "GYAHAHAHA!" He manically laughed, the scent and sight of his work excited him. His hands trembled in anticipation as he immediately turned around and dug his hands into a civilian trying to backstab him.

Naruto reached deeper into the person and after finding what he wanted, he ripped his arm out holding onto a beating heart. "ARGH!" The victim screamed, and dropped to the floor, his chest open with blood gushing out.

The blonde crushed the organ in his hands and returned to his slaughter. His eyes looked about, trying to find worthy prey and noticed a bunch of quivering man cowering in fail. But after seeing this horrendous mass murder, their gusto dispersed into thin air. This wasn't what they wanted. This was not what they had imagine. They came to get revenge for their hero, but... this was a nightmare!

The blue eyed Namikaze formed several handseals and shouted "Raiton : Gian!" (False Darkness) and a spear-shaped bolt of lightning emitted from Naruto's mouth and pierced one of the cowering man. And another handseal later, Naruto was immediately within that group with a loud clap of thunder. It was his own personal jutsu. One that could be considered S-rank depending on the situation and user.

Raiton : Kaminari Kawarimi (Thunder substitution) was a technique that allowed the user to replace itself with electricity. It could only be used by people with a lightning affinity. One of Naruto's own creation. He had tried the jutsu with fuuton and katon, but the technique just simply could not work on wind. And with fire, he simply burned himself.

The group was currently stunned. The loud clap of thunder was literally next to their ears and were too stupefied to do anything. Naruto then gathered lightning chakra in his hands. "Raiton : Sanda Appu" (Thunder Up) And pressed the lightning chakra in to a round ball.

The blonde smashed the ball into the ground, causing a huge explosion of electricity, killing the group and those around.

By now, only a tenth was left of what was a large force. Shikamaru's mass number of projectiles and Sai's ink lions managed to dispatch a fifth of them while the rest was finished off by Naruto.

The survivors began to retreat in fear. Though Danzo would have none of that. His first show of shinobi techniques appeared in a stealthy show of skill. The hundred or so people began to drop dead one by one as they were cut down by Danzo in surprising speed. A minute later, all of them were dead.

Now, the exhausted Team Ten returned to the mayor's manor and reported a mission well done. In which the fat pig flinched at the sight and smell of blood and gore all over Naruto. But what really sickened him though, was the manic smile on Naruto.

And with the blonde Namikaze, he just found what was his calling in life.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

"Team Ten reporting a mission completed." Danzo monotonously said, with his team flanking him. For the most part, Minato was simply looking shocked and surprised that Danzo's team survived. Surely, a B-rank mission would cause at least his son's death.

"G-good. Head over to the mission counter to receive your pay. Oh and gaki," Minato referring to Naruto. "Don't worry about the money, I will be keeping it for you." And the Hokage smirked. Naruto widened his eyes slightly but merely nodded. He should have seen this coming a mile away.

That was when Team Seven arrived. Yes, his brother's team. Jin bounced in with a grin on his face with Hinata and Shino in tow. The Hyuuga blushing and poking her index fingers together, and the Aburame silent as always.

Team Seven was at the very least a functional team. At the very first day, Jin had expressed to Shino of his position as top dog in the team. Which meant he wanted Shino to follow his orders. In which the Aburame replied rather blunt reply in the negative Jin had immediately threatened Shino with the loss of his career.

The silent Kikaichuu wielding genin who was quickly beginning to all respect of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, merely ignored the arrogant imbecile, which angered in which a punch was thrown by Jin to 'Put Shino in his place'.

The Aburame had to pinch himself to believe that the Rookie of the year was charging him like a civilian. Shino merely sidestepped to the right and Jin almost tripped himself. The Namikaze glared at Shino and was about to use a jutsu when their 'conversation' was interrupted by Hinata.

The Hyuuga quickly placed herself infront of Jin and raised the hands beside her. "Stop bullying Jin-kun, Shino!" Seeing the legendary, 'Byakuugan Glare' Shino, out of courtesy really, apologized and walked off.

Now, Jin and Shino had been rivals, as the Namikaze called them, ever since.

Currently, Team Seven appears to be requesting for a mission. Kakashi followed Team Seven a moment later. "Team Seven reporting for a mission, Sensei." Kakashi said professionally. After the loss of Rin and Obito, Kakashi had been devastated.

Minato, in order to help his student, initiated Kakashi into the ANBU. To allow the never ending A-S ranked missions make the copy-ninja forget about the two.

Well, the Hatake did in fact, got over the death of his two teammates after awhile. But it was commonly known that if Minato had died during the Kyuubi Attack, Kakashi would probably break.

The silver-haired nin was now the jounin sensei of Team Seven. Only being pulled out of ANBU by the same person who sent him there to train his son.

While Minato and Kakashi were discussing which D-rank mission to give his team, Jin spotted Naruto over with his team.

Ignorant of the fact that the ex-Anbu Root commander was standing right next to Naruto, Jin stepped forward and started laughing at him. "What happened, Dobe? You and your trash team took three days to complete a D-rank?" The brown-haired jinchuuriki continued laughing himself silly at his supposedly funny insult.

"N-now T-that w-wasn't very nice, J-Jin-kun..." The deeply blushing Hinata stepped forward. Naruto for a moment smiled. Before hearing the next words. "H-however W-weak Team T-ten is..." That surprised Naruto. Hinata who was ever so kind and gentle, had called his team weak?

Hinata's words caused several other reactions as well. Danzo had an eyebrow raised, surprised that the timid Hyuuga Heiress dared to say that. Shikamaru looked shocked for a moment before looking away and muttering 'Troublesome woman...' Sai... was just Sai.

By now, the third member of Team Seven had already learned to stay away from confrontations like this. What with this incidents happening at least twice a day. Jin would go up to some genin team, insult them with some ridiculous statement and though the opposing team would be angered, but nothing could be done against the Hokage's son.

Naruto could barely control his rage. Hinata-chan was being corrupted by his brother! This was the conclusion he reached. Hinata would never say anything like that to anyone, subconsciously or not. But he gritted his teeth and replied curtly. "No, just from an A-ranked mission..."

Jin's eyes narrowed in disbelief, that upon the look of the Mission scroll with A-Rank written on it, anger took over his narrowed eyes. He quickly turned towards his father and Kakashi and demanded an explanation. "Tou-san, how could Naruto-Baka go on an A-ranked mission, when all we did these pass three days were D-ranked chores!"

Shino had to roll his eyes at that. On the last mission, team seven was to paint a civilian's fences. Though once the client had seen Jin, she immediately invited him in for cookies and milk while the rest of the Team worked under the hot sun. His female teammate even praised how famous Jin was getting while clumsily handling the paintbrush. Obviously, the heiress of the prominent Hyuuga clan had never done such menial work.

Minato tried to calm down his son, but was failing badly, and the Hokage threw a hated glared at Naruto, catching the blonde off guard. Only when Kakashi told Jin to be quiet in a harsh tone, did Jin stand down, albeit reluctantly.

Naruto was surprised. He would have thought his father would give his oh-so-arrogant brother an S-ranked mission by now. Seeing how the Hokage always praised how powerful of a ninja Jin was.

By now, Danzo already had enough of this nuisance named Jin and decided to leave and Team Ten followed him.

They were soon outside the Hokage's tower and Danzo abruptly turned around. "Good job on the Mission, but do not expect any slack. We shall meet at the training ground tomorrow for another mission. Hopefully, this time we will be able get in a bit more training.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Six months passed too fast for Naruto to believe. In between various Missions varying from C – A, Team Ten was able to get in quite a bit of training. Shikamaru improved the most.

Danzo had, as he promised to himself, beat the lazy attitude out of Shikamaru. Now, the Nara dare not say or do anything remotely connected to that word.

After finding out his chakra affinity which was Wind, the Nara was able to learn several wind jutsus form Danzo, though none was above B-ranked. The ANBU commander did not see the need of powerful jutsus for a brilliant strategist such as Shikamaru. Although the genin had learnt his own clan's shadow jutsus though.

Naruto, under the training of the root leader, had surpassed even his own expectations. Danzo dragged and left Naruto in the most hellish training ever seen since Gai's own training. The Anbu commander took the blonde's potential, stretched and flexed it till it was twice its original size.

Within Six months, Naruto could be called the second coming of Minato... but more smart. But none were aware of his growth though. Danzo was careful in not revealing his students skills.

A day earlier, Danzo had informed Team Ten of their enrollment in the Chuunin Exams. Naruto and Shikamaru or course expected as much, and Sai... well he was just being Sai.

Today, was the first day of the Chuunin Exam. Naruto and the rest of Team Ten was headed towards the Academy to officially register for the Exams. As the team proceeded up the stairs and into the third floor, they noticed a bunch of people gathered around a door.

As they got closer, they noticed two shinobis guarding the door. But the moment Naruto laid eyes upon them, he was easily able to sense the advanced henge. The two 'genin' was testing them.

Just when Team Ten was about to leave though, Team Seven suddenly paraded through the crowd of wannabe ninjas. "Oi, let us in to the room, you two imbeciles." Naruto had to look shocked for a moment. _(Wow, 'Imbecile' that's a large word for such a small brain.)_

Hinata who was beside him, reddened in embarrassment. "A-ano, Jin-kun. The sign is a genjutsu, we are still on the second floor." Jin looked sheepish for a moment before demanding the two get out of the way. The two henge'd genin sweat-dropped. "Quite arrogant for just a brat, let's see you taste this!" One of the two declared and threw a high kick towards Jin.

Well he obviously did not realize Jin was the hokage's son, or he would have begged for forgiveness and laid a red carpet for Jin to walkthrough.

Naruto rolled his eyes at that but was looking forward to seeing his brother kicked in the face, but was surprised when a person wearing a green spandex suit run in between his brother and the guard. Well, to the others was only a green blur, but to Naruto, he could clearly see the strange genin run by and stop the attack. Not a bad speed. Almost high chuunin. But still need more practice. He wasted too much movement in that simple act.

"Please do not fight amongst ourselves, we should be at least civil to one another." Naruto got a clear look at the boy. We was wearing a green spandex body suit and orange arm and leg warmers., had a sleek black bowl cut. And weirdly enough, perfectly round eyes with large eyebrows above them.

Jin was obviously astonished by the pure speed the other genin showed judging from the slack jaw and widened eyes before turning away with a "Tch."

Naruto watched as Team Seven walked away. The blond eyed Hinata, though feelings that he had six months ago no longer existed now.

He had thrown away all feelings of affection after being harshly and forcefully rejected by the Hyuuga.

Flashback. **Note! Disgusting Hinata Bitchiness Ahead! I don't want to write this, but it is crucial! So, Hinata fans, if you do not want to read this, just skip ahead until you see another one of this.**

"Hinata.." Naruto softly whispered to only the ears of his hime. "N-naruto?" Hinata replied, confused as to why the blonde had asked to talk with her.

They were on a flowery field. Luscious green grass and alluring flowers filled the ground. Behind Naruto's back was a red rose plucked from the very field. "Hinata, I called you here to ask you a question."

"Hai, Naruto. What is it?" Hinata again replied politely. But she was quickly getting impatient. She was supposed to be meeting her team in a few minutes.

"I...I..." Naruto stammered before swallowing his fears "I want to ask you to be my girlfriend." He asked with a determine look. Hinata was thrown back by the question "W-what?"

Naruto quickly continued "I know we have not been very close together, but I have always watched you. Since the academy days, I have always loved you. I... I know you like my brother, but just give me a chance. I can show you, I can show you that you can love as much as my brother or even more!"

He presented the rose to Hinata but was _Slapped _a second later. A red palm mark found its way to Naruto's right cheek. Hinata was bristling in anger. "Dobe, listen to me! I have worked too far and too long for you to _fuck_ this up!" Surprised at the slap and her tone of voice, Naruto stood solid.

"You think I _like_ that pompous, arrogant jerk? NO! I am merely doing this to help further my clan's position in power. Why else would you think _anyone_ would even _pretend_ to be in love with that bloody _Douche bag!_" She screamed.

"Now get the fuck lost, and don't let me see you doing... _this" _She crinkled her face in disgust "again, or I swear I will bloody murder you, dobe. Now I have to meet that asshole and the team. Don't you mention this to anyone or You. Will. Regret. It! Fucking deadlast..." She muttered at the end and strutted off.

Naruto's eyes widened and mouth agape. All this time... All this effort. Tears threatened to stream down his cheeks. But he held it back in. It was then that the last line that connected the village to Naruto was severed.

**Flashback end. Well I did not have doing that. It was unpleasant and just completely sickening. Before you bitch and whine about how Hinata is not like that, this is my story, so... it will be great if you not flame things I already Know. Thanks! **

Naruto was just indifferent to Hinata nowadays and her admittedly charming... Naruto shook his head. He had to clear these thoughts. She had after all announced to Naruto of her dislike towards him.

Now, Naruto just wanted to get this exams over with and get to chuunin rank. But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the bowl-cut genin gazing at Jin. A smirk found its way to Naruto's face as he saw Lee follow Jin. Interesting...

Using hand signs, as in sign language, he told Shikamaru and Sai to wait for him at the real classroom. This he had to see.

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

When Naruto arrived, The spandex wearing boy introduced himself and challenged Jin to a fight. His brother looked at the genin once over and gave an arrogant "Hmph." Hinata urged Jin to not fight as they only had a little time left to register, but as usual, Jin declared a minute was enough to bring down this weakling and charged towards his opponent.

The newly name Rock Lee was surprised. The speed of his opponent... was unbelievably slow! He had not expected the famous son of the legendary Yondaime Hokage to be so... weak. A single punch buried itself into Jin's gut and the jinchuuriki flew away, unconscious immediately.

Lee looked at his fist then at Jin. A genin that had 'genius never seen before' should have been able to dodge that attack, if not lock it. He hardly even tried!

Naruto shook his head at the utter pathetic situation and jumped down as Lee was about to leave. "Greetings. My name is Namikaze Naruto." Lee's eyes widened and turned back. "Then you must be Jin-kun's brother, no?"

The blonde nodded "I heard you were the deadlast of the class. But it does not matter. Even I who was the deadlast of my class had found the way of youth and is now YOUTHFUL TO THE EXTREME!" Lee shouted, pumping his fists in the air.

Naruto nodded slowly. "Right... well, I am here to test myself against, who I believe to be the genin strongest in Taijutsu. You, Rock Lee." Said genin formed an 'O' with his mouth and relaxed himself into a loose fighting stance. "Then let us begin your most youthful spar."

_(Sorry, Lee. But you are too powerful to let you stay in this exam. I will not let my chance of being promoted be compromised in anyway.) _Naruto thought darkly as he himself settled himself into a loose fighting stance,

Seeing as the blonde did not attack, Lee took it upon himself to initiate the fight. One moment he was standing opposite to Lee, the next he was beside Naruto, his kick caught by the blonde.

"Not fast enough. Lee, please be more serious..." Naruto muttered and pushed back his leg.

Said genin only smiled brightly. At least this Naruto character was not as weak as his brother. Perhaps he made a mistake? This must be the genius jinchuuriki everyone was talking about.

Lee once again reappeared infront of Naruto, "Konoha Senpuu!" And a kick flew towards Naruto. Anger at his lack of motivation, Naruto gave a swift punch to Lee's gut and he flew back. The spandex-wearing genin almost threw up his breakfast.

"I said be more serious. That attack was not even half your speed and strength." Naruto demanded. Lee had the decency to look sheepish. "It seems I underestimate you, Naruto-kun. Very well, from now on, this is my full power!" Lee declared and Naruto found his fist too close for comfort, but Naruto was still faster than him.

The blonde gripped his opponent's wrist and sent a jab towards Lee's face. But with his reaction speed, Lee was easily able to dodge the jab. But found himself at the receiving end of Naruto's foot as he was kicked away.

Through intense training, did Naruto learn to multi-task and control several of his limbs in different motions at once.

Lee clutched his chest which coughing, the kick had knocked the wind out of his lungs. "That was not your full power, take off those weights, Lee. There is no sense in defeating an opponent limited by hunks of metal." Lee looked shocked that his opponent knew he was wearing weights, but although he was reluctant, he removed the weights and placed them on the ground gently.

Which meant he dropped them from shoulder height and created a large crack in the ground. "This time Naruto-kun, I will give my all!" And Lee reappeared infront of Naruto, "Dai Konoha Senpuu!" (Great Leaf Whirlwind)

The blonde smirked, this was what he wanted to see. The Namikaze raised his knee and drived his elbow downwards at the same time, catching Lee's leg right in between the two limbs. Naruto then drove the elbow down with greater force, effectively shattering the bone. "Kosa Ho!" (Intersection Method)

"ARGH!" A large shout from Lee showed that at least one bone was broken. Naruto released the grip and let Lee fall on the floor, gripping his ankle. The blonde smirked. He knew the weights would have protected Lee from this technique. Only prompting Lee to remove them could allow Naruto to successfully break his leg.

A sudden burst of wind caused Naruto jump back in caution. Now, next to Lee was a larger clone of his. This one was taller, more well defined muscles and a jounin vest. He cradled Lee in his arms and after looking at the now swollen ankle, he glared at Naruto.

"Who taught you that technique? That was a dangerous taijutsu maneuver that should not be used against fellow ninjas of the same village!" The man shouted. Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Tch, someone created that technique already? I taught I was the first. How depressing..." That uncaring tone angered the older Lee and before he could do anything rash, he calmed himself down.

"I will have a speak with your jounin sensei, Namikaze Naruto." The jounin warned before he shunshin away.

"How boring..." Naruto muttered before glancing at Hinata who was looking at him with awe. The blonde for a moment thought that his show of strength could attract her, but as quickly as it came, he gave up that thought. He merely waved "See you." And shunshin'd away as well.

The one thing on Naruto's head was "Sono Chuunin shiken wa Omoshiro!" (The chuunin exams are interesting!)

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

**Done! Sorry, I just couldn't resist myself to put that at the end. Well, this is the sixth chapter of The Hero's Brother. Hoped you enjoyed it. I know I said there will be a months delay because of examinations, but exams have been postponed for a week because of something I did not bother to remember. So anyways, Hurray for me! **

**Seriously though, there will still be a one month hiatus until examinations are over. So, wish me luck! Anyways, Love it or hate it, please review!**

Seriously, Review.

_Well if you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (evil laughter) _


	8. Omake For You?

Not really a Chapter of The Hero's Brother.

Yo! I am halfway through my examinations and so just bear with me, kay? In the mean time...

**Omake for you?**

(Naruto's POV Before Hinata's rejection)

So I was just minding my business at a training ground, practicing several high-ranking jutsus from one of my father's jutsu scrolls when a white dove flew towards me. A white Dove represented the Hyuuga Clan.

I caught the bird with my hands and noticed a message tied to its leg. I removed the paper and it said.

"I need you here now, stud. - Hinata" I could not believe it. The girl who I have been crushing on all academy years just asked me to... I could not think straight anymore. So I packed up all my things and headed over to the Hyuuga Compound.

I snuck through the numerous guards and when I found Hinata's room, I knocked on her door. And she answered in fabric so _skimpy_, I would not even begin to call them clothes. I mean she looked _awesome..._ She wore a black, tight see-through tanktop and under it was a black bra covering her rather well developed chest and also black tight biker shorts that did not even _reach _her thighs.

As soon as I get in, she pushed me on to her bed and told me to lay down and trust her. And as they say, 'Love is Blind' I complied. And before I could say anything, she left the room for what feels like 30 minutes.

So I sat there, waiting for her. And when Hinata finally comes back, with a shopping bag, she pulled out a big roll of duct tape.

It... freaked me out a little, but trying to be flirtatious, I asked her "What are we doing? Fixing some pipes?" She laughed and proceeded to bind my ankles together and my hands behind my back.

She whispered in my ear that she had 'Big Plans' for us. This, should have been the first sign for me to get the hell out, but... I stayed.

Hinata then asked in a flirty way how my ninjutsu training was coming, and after I answered it was going pretty well, she put a tape over my mouth, and I _Freaked Out_.

As I struggled to get out, I watched her get up and put on street clothes. Grab the jutsu scroll from my pouch with all my jutsus in it and walk out of the room.

About two hours later, her sister Hanabi comes in and sees me. Instead of untying me, she laughed and started calling all her academy friends and other Hyuuga members into the room to show them what thinking with your _balls_ get to.

Pictures were taken, people drew all over my face. And I couldn't do anything about it. I felt like a caged gorilla. After I don't know how long, Hanabi cut the tape and let me go.

My scroll was waiting outside the Hyuuga compound. But all the jutsus were presumably copied down.

And that was the day I learned to _Not Think With My Balls._

**Omake Finished**

Liked it? Sorry if it was not very funny, I haven't done one of this in awhile. So just be patient, and the next chapter will be out in no time.


	9. Orochimaru appears Chuunin Exams Part 2

The Hero's Brother Chapter Seven

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto nor anything else I may have used. (This will be what I'm going with from now)

Author's Notes : Hey! I am back and ready to rock. My exams are over and to tell you the truth I did extremely bad. But whatever, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. So, this is the seventh chapter of The Hero's Brother, and hurray for 200 reviews! This is my most successful story yet, and I am wishing it gains more popularity. I hope to be as famous as all my favorite authors.

Well, here's the seventh installation of The Hero's Brother, hope you enjoy it.

P.S. _Too many Anon Flamers ._

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Naruto met his team at the door of Academy Classroom 304. "You ready?" The blonde asked his teammates. Both nodded in the affirmative. Naruto grinned before returning to its initial stoic. He opened the door and entered the room, noting the tense situation.

He decided to be as inconspicuous as can be and headed to a corner, flanked by his team. He stood silently, observing the examinees. From the look of their headbands, there were many Konoha genins, a few Taki teams, three Ame teams and surprisingly, a whoping four Iwa teams.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. Iwa shinobi participating in a chuunin exam hosted by their most hated enemy? It screamed 'Suspicious!' He also noticed some from his graduating class. Shikamaru was about to go greet Chouji when Naruto stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. Six months with the blonde and Shikamaru already learned that Naruto was not one to disobey.

**Flashback!**

_It was an A-ranked mission. A simple search and destroy, target being Rokusho Aoi. Shikamaru's plan had backfired as several Ame nins ambushed them half way upon completion of his plan. Sai managed to hold his own while Naruto had already decimated half of the ambush team. _

_Danzo was merely observing with intrigue, interested to know how his team was going to handle this new development. Shikamaru on the other hand, was a bit unfortunate as Aoi attacked the Nara from his blindside and took him as a hostage. _

"_Unless you want your friend to die, stop moving!" He threatened. Naruto merely looked towards the nuke-nin and smirked. "Do you think I am a person who saves people?" And threw a punch at Aoi, breaking his face, while Shikamaru was cut on the cheek by Aoi's kunai when he flew back from Naruto's punch. _

_The Nara was then always wary of his team mate. _

**Flashback end! A familiar scene from my other story The White Mask for those who have read it.**

He continued scanning the crowd and he saw a Suna team. Reaching into his memory, he remembered who they were. From the looks of it, the Kazekage sent his own children into the chuunin exam.

_(Interesting... especially the red-haired one. He reeks of blood and killing intent. I want to fight him! He looks like he could put up a real fight.) _Naruto thought, unconsciously directing his killing intent at the suna-nin.

Said genin noticed Naruto's killing intent and stared right back at the blonde, both directing their killing intent at each other. Seconds later, the suna genin began to sweat. _(This one... is dangerous. Killing him would prove my existence even more!) _

That was when Team Seven barged in loudly. They immediately flinched at the glares they were receiving before Jin rudely shouted "Hey you bastards, I am Namikaze Jin, the son of the Legendary Yellow Flash. You bastards better remember my name, as I will be the one who crushes all of you in this exam!"

The mention of Minato, caused the Iwa genins to stand up sharply. All of them were... how you say... _Pissed Offed. _They whispering among themselves. _Son of the yellow flash! Kill him! Stupid, don't be reckless! We can take him! There are probably ANBU here, dumbass! Our greatest enemy is standing in front of us, and we can't even do anything! We will have our chances... Now just sit down quietly. _

Jin then continued talking smack to everyone in the classroom, even though half of the room was glaring at him. But he was thankfully interrupted by a certain blonde. No, not Naruto. Ino Yamanaka jumped on Jin's back, yelling out "Jin-Kun!"

While they were off in their own little world, Naruto noticed many of them were beginning to get a bit feisty, probably from the tense situation. Silently chuckling, Naruto just thought how fun it would be if the whole room turned to a major free for all battle. He could do _so much_ to these little kiddies.

But before anyone could do anything, a silver-haired genin walked over to them "Hey you guys should be quiet, everyone is getting real pissed-off at you." The rookie teams immediately began to quieten down. But Jin shot back with a "Who cares what they think. Let them come at me, I will tear them up with my Rasengan!"

Upon hearing the Yellow Flash's famous jutsu, the people suddenly started questioning themselves whether this kid was as much a genius as his father. Well, they weren't far from it. Jin is as much of an idiot as his father.

Kabuto then started talking about the chuunin exams, but he caught Naruto's attention when he mentioned his nin-info cards. But what really interested him was when Jin asked for information about Sabaku no Gaara, Rock Lee and Namikaze Naruto. _(Hnn, so brother wants some information on me, let's see if what he hears is what he wanted to hear.) _

"First up, Rock Lee. He is a year older than you guys. Sensei is Maito Gai and his teammates being Neji Hyuuga and Kurogane Kagami. Mission history : 20 D-ranks completed, 12 C-ranks Completed. His Taijutsu sky-rocketed in this year. The rest is nothing impressive.

Next is Sabaku no Gaara. Mission History : 8 C-ranks completed and... wow, a B-ranked mission as a genin. And since he is a new comer from a foreign country, I don't have much information, but it seems he returned from all of his missions without a scratch."

The rookies gulped at the thought of a person returning from a B-ranked mission without a single injury. He was dangerous, and everyone knew it.

"Now, third is Namikaze Naruto. He is your brother? Well, doesn't matter either ways. Says here, his mission record is... Wh-what in the world? Eight C-ranked missions" Kabuto started. Kiba smirked "That isn't so impressive." But Kabuto continued. "11 B-ranked missions."

Now that threw that back. "Wait B-rank missions? How could a genin teams complete 11 B-ranked missions!" Kiba shouted but again Kabuto ignored him and continued. "S-six A-ranked missions! Team mates are Nara Shikamaru and Sai. Bounty History : Aoi Rokusho B-ranked Missing Nin, he traded in his head for 200,000 ryo. Momochi Zabuza, A-ranked Missing Nin, traded his head for 1 million ryo."

Jin widened his eyes at the name of the Demon of the Mist. His team had fallen back once Kakashi was caught by Zabuza in his water prison technique on their first C-ranked mission to the wave. When the Hatake had been caught, Jin was about to save his 'Nii-san' but a cut on his cheek from Zabuza's mizu bunshin sent him running away with his team mates.

Kakashi however, managed to escape from the technique and when he returned to his team, he looked fairly disappointed at Jin. The mission was of course a failure, and Wave country was dominated by Gato since.

But Kabuto was not finished. Not by a longshot. "He even traded in the head of Kaguya Kimimaro who was the right hand-man of Orochimaru, the traitor snake-sannin. Incredible, just amazing. His all round stats are extremely high. Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Gen-" But before the silver-haired genin could finish, Naruto already snatched the card from him.

The blonde looked through the info card before sending his fire chakra into the card, burning it. "Your information is surprisingly detailed for a genin. But it is wrong though. I did not trade in the bounty for the Kaguya. He did not have a body for me to trade in after I was done with him. Which leads us to the question. How would a genin know I killed Orochimaru's right hand man when it was not known throughout the ninja world? Unless..." Naruto glared at Kabuto. "You were there?"

That sent Kabuto into panic mode. "W-what? That isn't possible. How could I been there? I-I just got that information thro-through a reliable source!" Naruto smirked. "Well, it doesn't matter. I am just pissed off you brought all the attention to our team." It was true, now everyone was staring at Naruto as if he was an S-ranked missing nin planning to kill them.

Then the Namikaze's eyes widened "Oh he's here." A second later, a large burst of smoke engulfed the front of the room, and revealed a heavily scarred man wearing a bandana and trench coat, flanked by numerous other chuunins. "Okay you maggots, quiet! I am Morino Ibiki, your proctor for the first test of the chuunin exam! And for those of you newcomers, Welcome to the chuunin exam, also known as 地獄!(Hell)"

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Naruto had to compliment the man for his intimidation methods. He was almost caught up in it as well. Almost. The exam started with relative silence before examiners began to expel several teams out of the classroom for cheating.

The exam was simple. It was a written test with extremely difficult questions genins should not be able to answer. The answer to that was carefully hidden by several hints from Ibiki.

The examinees are supposed to cheat.

That is where the twist comes in. Examinees are supposed to cheat in a smart way so that even when the proctors know they are cheating, they let them go if it was a smart method. For example, the Hyuugas, Neji and Hinata. It was absolutely obvious they were using their byakuugan if the veins bulging at the side of their heads was any evidence. The sand eye from the Suna nin was also quite visible as well.

This kind of reconnaissance test was a walk in the park for Naruto.

Ibiki looked at the room of genins. He could already see several of the dumber examinees leaning their heads towards their neighbors trying to look at their answers. These kind of people did not even deserve to be promoted to chuunin. But there were some potential in this year's chuunin exam. Like that blonde Namikaze. All he did was close his eyes for a moment and when he reopened them, he began writing furiously at his paper.

It wasn't a doujutsu nor was there any trick involved. If it was a jutsu, then his control must be perfect as Ibiki did not sense even a drop of chakra. And that was saying something for a sensor type shinobi like Ibiki.

What he did not know was, Naruto did use a jutsu. One of his original in fact. Mind Jack technique.

A small knife made of chakra invisible to the naked eye was formed from the back of his head. It was connected to a thin thread of chakra linked to his head. The chakra knife moved around as if it had a life of its own and immediately stabbed the head one of the hurriedly writing examinees.

But he did not scream. He showed no pain whatsoever. Naruto smirked as information and images ran past his eyes.

The Mind Jack technique was a jutsu where Naruto connected his mind to the target's mind, therefore receiving his thoughts and memories for as long as the knife was connected. It caused no pain, no feeling of uncomfortableness and the target would have no idea that his brain was just jacked by Naruto.

30 minutes later, the paper was completed, and Naruto sat back and relaxed. If the first exam was this easy, the Chuunin Exam would be a breeze.

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

"This is Training Area 44, also more affectionately known as 'The Forest Of Death'" The purple haired proctor declared. Naruto looked bored though. He had already been to this training area before. Both on his own and with his team. The forest was quiet, almost tranquil, making it an idea location for training. Well, that and the fact numerous deadly beasts lay prowling in the shadows while they trained, forcing them to be alert at all times.

The special Jounin known as Anko Mitarashi, continued to explain the exam, how each team was to be given either a Heaven or an Earth scroll and they had to get the other scroll and make it to the tower in the middle of the forest in five days to pass.

Jin chuckled and muttered "Way too easy..." That was a mistake as a Kunai went zipping past his face, grazing his cheek. He was immediately shocked but then noticed the cold sensation of metal near his throat. "It's the loudmouths that die first in my deadly forest..." She whispered before licking the blood Jin's wound.

His initial arrogance forgotten, the Kyuubi Vessel stood rooted to the ground as a shiver went down his spine. That was when a tongue slid by Anko's face, a Kunai wrapped in it. The special jounin took the kunai and said with an obviously fake smile "I don't advise sneaking up on me. People usually die when they do."

A Kusa-nin whose tounge belonged to merely smiled. "Oh forgive me, I merely felt it appropriate to return the kunai that flew past my beautiful hair."

Chouji interrupted the conversation, shouting "What are we supposed to do for food!" He asked a panic stricken look on his normally apathetic chubby face. Anko grinned "Well the whole forest has plenty of food! I heard the Sabertooth Liger, that is 3 meters long, is pretty tasty char-grilled."

Although Chouji slightly drooled at the image of grilling a piece of Liger meat, he paled at the thought of 3 meters long beasts. But that was okay, as half of the examinees paled themselves.

Anko then continued, ushering teams to a covered booth where they collected their scrolls. Naruto, as the team leader, held on to their Heaven scroll. As they stood infront of their assigned gate, Team Ten went over their battle plan. First off tracking. They had to search for a team with their counterpart scroll, that would be taken of by Sai with his ink drawings of eagles and rats. Next, they would either confront the team and defeat them, or steal the scroll form under their noses.

This was pretty much the standard plan for everyone.

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

(10 minutes into the forest)

Naruto wiped the blood off Weasel(his butterfly knife) with the fallen enemies shirt. They had found two Taki teams working together, with Sai's ink rat, setting up traps in a small clearing. Naruto easily slipped through the traps and annihilated the two teams, not even giving any chance for resistance.

Now Team Ten had a single Heaven scroll, and two Earth scrolls. This was too easy. Naruto signaled his team to come out. "Now we will run a straight path through the forest to the tower. Any resistance met shall be eliminated swiftly. I intend for us to be the first team to pass, understood?" Naruto asked. Two nods in the affirmative, and Team Ten moved out.

They were half-way through the tower when they stumbled across something very interesting. Four Iwagakure genin teams gathered in one clearing, formulating a plan. The blonde mentally laughed. The six Taki nin from before were not enough to satisfy his killing urge. Naruto's hands shook with anticipation and from the branch he and his team was standing on, he jumped towards the Rock nins, laughing manically.

Taken by surprise, they barely had time to dodge as Naruto landed in their midst. The blonde was leaking killing intent like crazy, but one of the genin recognized him. "H-hey, he is the yellow flash's other son!" That was when all hell broke loose. The rock nin jumped away to gain distance and half of them began forming handseals while the other half prepared for combat, pulling out shuriken and kunai.

"**Doton : Doryo Dango!" (Earth Mausoleum Dumpling)**

"**Doton : Yomi Numa!" (Swamp of the Underworld) **

"**Doton : Gansetsukon!" (Rock Staff) **

"**Doton : Ganchuri!" (Earth Pillar Prison) **

"**Doton : Gantrail!" (Rcok Trail) **

"**Doton : Doryudama!" (Mud shot) **

The ground beneath Naruto suddenly turned into a swamp, with jagged spikes stabbing upwards. Naruto tried to jump out away but pillars of rock flew up trapping him in the swamp. He then had to deflect a staff thrown at him while using a seal less Reppusho to block a chakra-enhanced ball of mud.

But what shocked him was a gigantic lump of earth hurling towards him. But a bulb lit up in Naruto's head. The rock-nin probably thought the last attack would finish me off, so they didn't think that the Doryo Dango would open a hole in the Earth Pillar Prison.

Soon, the lump of earth crashed in to the pillars, and continued on towards Naruto. **"Raiton : Gian" (False Darkness)** A spear of lightning pierced the lump of earth, breaking it to several smaller pieces which allowed Naruto to jump on them and leap through the hole created by the Doryo Dango.

The blonde turned to face the shocked Iwa-shinobi. "I believe it's my turn." Reappearing infront of them, Naruto sliced the nearest persons throat with Sin and kicked two of them away. **"Doton : Domu!" (Earth Spear) **One of them shouted and a blackened fist flew towards Naruto. **"Raiton : Yoroi!" (Armor) **A yellow aura covered Naruto as he caught the fist, and proceeded to shock the owned of the outstretched hand to death with the lightning chakra.

Two dead, ten left. With a shout of **"Kunai kage bunshin no jutsu!" **(Kunai shadow clone) hundreds of Kunais flew towards the rock nins, forcing them to block it with **"Doton : Doroku Gaeshi" ** (Earth Shore Return) Where a large wall of earth shielded them form the incoming mass of weapons. Another Rock-nin was halfway through the handseals for **Doton : Doryudan (Earth Dragon Bullet) **But was suddenly immobilized before hearing a voice behind him. "**Kage Mane no jutsu**, Success." And used the rock-nin's possessed body to punch his ally and kick another.

Naruto noticed Shikamaru standing in the shadows of a tree "Oi, Nara. This is my fight, stay out of it!" Shikamaru merely muttered "Troublesome..." and released his hold on the Iwa genin. By now, the possessed shinobi had already been restrained with ninja wire by his teammates.

The blonde growled and decided to pull out the big guns. Swiftly flipping out Sin and Weasel, he flew towards them, and stabbed two of them with deadly accuracy through their hearts, who were taken by surprise. **"Katon : Hibashira! (Fire Pillar) **And a pillar of flames surrounding Naruto flew upwards burning most of the enemies.

"ARGH!" A shout of pain resonating from the burnt Iwa-shinbi. Those alive were covered in numerous third and second degree burns while the others were already dead, those standing closest to Naruto burnt to death.

"GYAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto laughed. He gripped two of the least injured ones neck and lifted them up. The two clawed Naruto's hands in a desperate attempt to have him release them but to no avail. "Scream for me, trash!" And he tightened his grip.

The two shinobi's eyes almost popped out as their eyes, ears and nose bleed crimson red. And with a snap, their necks broke, and Naruto dropped them. They fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Naruto glanced at the remaining ones "This is getting boring" He sighed and stabbed his hidden knife into their head, through their skull and brain.

Sai and Shikamaru watched the carnage with familiarity. It was of course not the first time Naruto had gotten this wild. The Namikaze stared at the blood on his hands in disgust. There wasn't a river anywhere near and he could not wipe it on the burnt clothing of the corpses.

"Weak... TOO WEAK!" Naruto roared.

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

(Anko's POV)

It was only twenty minutes into the exam and the examinees was already going at it. Anko had already seen a giant boulder flying through the trees, a spear of lightning stabbing from the forest, and strangely enough, a pillar of fire. Looks like Ibiki was right, this year's crop wasn't bad.

(Ino's POV)

What ever was going on in the forest, she did not want to go near it. She and her team had already witnessed a pillar of flames and a spear of lightning in the air, these exams were dangerous and she knew it. The ground was shaking a bit (from the doryo Dango) after a great explosion was heard. The Forest Of Death was dangerous.

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Team Ten was strolling through the forest at a casual speed. Naruto was already annoyed at not being able to defeat any strong opponents, he thought he would at least get a challenge, but so far, the Chuunin Exams did not impress him one bit. But the blonde didn't know how wrong he was.

A wave of kunai flew towards them. This shocked all three of them. A trap? Not possible. Sai's Ink birds and mice already combed the route to the tower. Any traps were already disabled and dismantled. And how could another genin team sneak up to Team Ten, which was undoubtedly the strongest genin team in Konoha, or even in the whole exam.

The wave of kunai was deflected by an invisible barrier, although a slight blur in the air could be seen. That was Naruto's mastery of the wind element coming into play where he used the wind to deflect the weapons.

Right after the wave of projectiles came a large snake actually somehow flying towards them, although a large, flat black tendril sliced it in half. The black blade interestingly enough came from the ground, or more accurately, from Shikamaru's shadow - Kage Yaiba (Shadow blade)

The snake's blood splattered the soil as what remained of the reptile landed in a thud on the ground. Immediately Team Ten was on their toes, cautious and almost paranoid. Sai had already unsheathed his tanto while Shikamaru had twin Kunais out. Naruto on the other hand summoned four kage bunshins and sent them in to the forest, only for them all to somehow be dispersed all at once.

The memory of the clones was sent back to Naruto, it proved valuable however short-lived it was. The last thing one of the clones saw was a golden colored eye with a black slit...

"Ku, ku, ku, ku, ku" The almost insane laughter echoed throughout the clearing "Not bad..." The owned of the voice finally showed himself, and suddenly appeared opposite of Naruto. All three genin turned to face their enemy.

The blonde could feel it. The twisted and sickening killing intent the man or woman was radiating. Naruto recognized him or her immediately. It was the _almost_ creepy Kusa-nin from earlier. He or She was dangerous, that much Naruto could feel. _(Interesting...)_

The man or woman brought up his or her hand gesturing 'Come on' Shikamaru gave a 'Tch' and launched this two kunai. The Kusa nin immediately noticed the thin trail of shadow connecting the two kunais to the Nara's shadow.

Strangely enough, he or she did not dodge it, infact he or she ran towards the kunai, twisting his or her body and squeezed in between the two kunai, and the two strands of shadow. With a burst of chakra from his or her foot to the ground, he or she launched forward with twice the speed, a fist pulled back ready to smash it in the Nara's face.

The kusa nin's attack was ruined, however, when a black and white claw almost tore his or her face off. He or she was forced to jump back, carefully watching his or her shadow, avoiding Shikamaru's shadow attacks. The clawed attack came from Sai's ink lion. Three of them stood infront of Team Ten, almost protectively.

The Kusa nin chuckled "Did you think I could not sense you... Naruto-kun?" And blocked Weasel with her own Kunai. Naruto who had tried sneaking up to her flinched, surprised he was caught, the blonde was confident, almost bordering arrogant of his stealth skills.

But who was he kidding? Did he _really_ believe he could sneak up on one of the Sannin, especially the infamously notorious Orochimaru? Of course Naruto knew the one they were fighting was the Snake Sannin. Who else could summon such a large snake and actually make it fight for him?

Still, he must be here for a reason, and no matter what it might be, Naruto and his team was in danger. And if they would be in a deadly situation, the blonde would escape, abandon his team and escape. It might be cowardly, but against an S-ranked opponent, it was every man for himself.

However, strangely enough, Orochimaru was not fighting with his full capabilities. The snake Sannin could easily erase all of them with a snap of his fingers, but why isn't he? A motive... he is here for a reason. For some twisted and evil plot.

Orochimaru instantly pushed Naruto back with his superior strength gained over years of training. Naruto could only think – What the hell just happened? He had channeled wind chakra into Weasel, a friggin' Kunai shouldn't be able to stop it. That only proved the mastery Orochimaru had over Chakra.

Naruto glanced at his teammates, Sai was already in the middle of conjuring more ink beasts while Shikamaru was half way through the seals for a jutsu. Should he run while his teammates distracted Orochimaru?

A second later, dozens of thin black spikes pierced the ground where Orochimaru was a moment ago while large ink hawks intercepted Orochimaru in the air where he jumped. The Sannin cleaved the in half with the same kunai while laughing. "Is this all your team can achieve, Naruto-kun? Seems like this is all the _Deadlast_ is able to accomplish." Though Orochimaru had to admit Team ten was putting up _quite_ a fight.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He knew Orochimaru was trying to provoke him into facing him... and it worked. Now the Sannin just made this _Personal..._

Growling, two kagebunshins poofed into existence next to the original. He quickly formed some _handsigns_ 'You two keep him busy' His two teammates seeing this, nodded. At once, the three Narutos formed handseals simultaneously while Shikamaru and Sai distracted Orochimaru with shadow spikes, tendrils and ink beasts.

Naruto smirked _(Here goes nothing. My strongest jutsu, High – A-ranked, bordering on S – ranked technique)_ The first clone finished his handseals **"Katon : Hiryuu Entei no jutsu!" (Fire dragon flame emperor)**

The original finished his handseals **"Fuuton : Furyuu KazeOu no jutsu!" (Air dragon wind king) **

The second clone finished his handseals **"Raiton : Rairyuu KaminariKou !" (Lightning dragon thunder lord) **

Three massive western dragons made out of fire, wind and lightning appeared out of seemingly nowhere, stared down at their tiny prey – Orochimaru, before fusing together to form a gigantic firestorm with lightning bolts flying around it.

The massive amount of heat and light forced Orochimaru to divert his entire attention to Naruto's jutsu. "My god..." The snake sannin could not help but mutter in awe. A jutsu of insane proportions.

Naruto glared at the Snake Sannin. "Don't underestimate me, fucker! **Three elemental dragon storm!" **Sai and Shikamaru who had already witnessed the destruction this jutsu was capable of, cleverly retreated leaving Orochimaru alone to face it.

Said Sannin shook himself off his awe and hurriedly performed the handseals needed for Kuchiyose. **"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"** (Summoning technique) A second later, fire wind and lightning enveloped the clearing tearing apart, incinerating everything within its area of effect.

"Let's go, Hurry!" Naruto shouted over to his teammates, wishing to use his jutsu at least as a distraction in order to escape. And with that, Team Ten escaped the horror known as Orochimaru.

It took an hour for Naruto's S-ranked ninjtusu to disperse due to depletion of the chakra the blonde used. When the chaos settled, what was left was a dead snake, half the size of Manda.

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Team Ten was the second team to arrive in the tower. First being the Sand team. Shikamaru and even Sai was still abit shaken up from battling and escaping one of the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru.

Shikamaru was the first one to speak since the incident. "O-oi... Was that Oro-Orochimaru we just fought off?" He asked, hands still trembling. Do not mistake that as a weakness. Most genins would had pissed their pants, in the presence of Orochimaru's malevolent aura.

"Don't worry about it." Naruto replied "I am going to report this to the Hokage... Stay Here." And the blonde walked off. Of course, Naruto had _no_ intention of reporting anything to his father. _(This is fun... this is really fun! I have never felt such an adrenaline rush before. Fighting for your life against an undoubtedly superior opponent. The chuunin exam really is interesting!) _

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

(Timeskip to first match of the preliminaries cause I forgot the Third's speech.)

The chuunin hopefuls all stood across each other, staring at each other, trying to find weaknesses. Tension was high in the room. A preliminary round was decided as many teams passed. Too many.

Three Konoha Teams made it through, a single Suna Team and one Oto Team. Making a total of 15 examinees.

Naruto scanned the genins, noting their skills and weaknesses. The puppeteer from Suna, his weakness would probably be either taijutsu, or heavy ninjutsu. The Oto nin with the contraption on his arm, would most likely favor taijutsu, so on and so forth.

And surprisingly, Danzo was here. Standing near his father, and was staring at him. The old warhawk smirked. Naruto already knew what he was supposed to do here. As his sensei had instructed him to complete crush the competition. Not like that was not what he was planning in the first place.

"Now let the preliminaries begin!" The Yondaime shouted as silence descended. Names were to be picked randomly and two enemies would fight each other. The victor will be granted the right to proceed to the Finals although Minato had 'volunteered' Naruto to fight twice because of the imbalance in numbers.

Two people held their breaths as their names were shown on the black screen.

**Namikaze Jin Vs. Hyuuga Hinata**

Gasps were heard from the Konoha Teams as everyone knew the 'shy' Hyuuga liked the Namikaze, what would happen now that they were forced to fight for the chance for promotion? Jin said nothing and jumped down to the arena. Though he was inwardly laughing.

Hinata loved him! This would be the most easiest match-up ever! She would never bare to attack her beloved crush right? This would be a walk in the park.

However, the Hyuuga was having an internal-turmoil herself. If she fought and lost, it might cause Jin to lose interest in her, and it would also bring shame to the clan. If she fought and won, it WILL cause Jin to hate her but on the other hand bringing glory to the clan.

Hinata sighed. As much as she hated the bratty jinchuuriki, she would have to throw this match.

She jumped down as well facing the 'love of her life'. "J-Jin-kun. L-let's have a g-great match!" The Namikaze nodded. The judge, a sickly man named Gekkou Hayate shouted "Hajime!". Hinata walked towards Jin to shake his hand and Jin did as well. Or did he?

He grabbed her outstretched hand and landed a quick blow to her gut. This showed a new side to the hero of Konoha. Still gripping Hinata's hand, Jin continued attacking her, punches and kicks flew towards her. As much as she wanted to just jyuuken the asshole, she endured.

Finally, Jin lost his grip and Hinata fell back, unconscious. Everyone was looking at Jin in disgust, even Kushina who came to see her son (Note the singular) to compete, albeit only slightly. The only one who was not affected was Minato, who was clapping, and Gaara, just because he wasn't capable of emotion.

Naruto was gripping the railing, his fist clenching on to the metal, leaving an imprint of his hand on it. He did not know why he was angered, considering he already threw all affection from the Hyuuga away. Maybe it was because of the blatant dirty act his brother just performed.

Gekkou Hayate looked shock. A sign of good will from the girl was taken advantage of from a boy she liked. This was disgusting. It sickened him to know this kind of people existed, but nonetheless, he was an impartial judge and announced the boy winner. "Shosha! Namikaze Jin!"

The other teams watched in silent contempt and distaste. No words can be used to describe what kind of rotten being Jin was.

The Namikaze walked back to his team, smirking and arrogant. Kakashi looked at him with both disappointment and anger. This was not what he spent the last six months teaching him.

The next two fighters were quickly randomly picked.

**Chouji Akimichi Vs. Sai**

Naruto looked on in interest. His root team mate was fighting the fat Akimichi? Intriguing...

Chouji looked nervous at having to fight one of the people who arrived in the tower in 30 minutes. Although a bribe from his sensei turned him around. He was even extremely enthusiastic.

Sai looked at his opponent with apathy, knowing the chubby boy had no chance against himself. But he had been taught to never underestimate his opponent, and never show mercy. This pig would have to suffer abit.

"Hajime!" The starting signal was given and the Akimichi quickly used his clan's famous jutsu.

"**Bubun Baika no Jutsu!"(Partial Multi-size) **He shouted and his hands enlarged causing it to stretch and promising pain when hit with it. Chouji went ahead and tried to punch Sai. In which the root nin responded with a mass of ink snakes.

The snakes wrapped themselves all the way around Chouji's outstretched arm biting and constricting it at the same time. Yelping in pain, the Akimichi quickly dispelled his technique allowing his hand to return to normal.

Craddling his arm, Chouji yelled at Sai. "You bastard, that wasn't fair!" Sai raised an eyebrow but did not reply. He wouldn't bother himself with such a... inferior opponent.

The Akimichi glared at Sai before shouting "**Baika no jutsu!" (Multi-size)" **And his already round body, increased in body-size giving him an extremely round appearance. He then followed up with **"Nikudan Sensha!"(Human bullet tank) **Chouji tucked his limbs into his clothes and propelled himself towards Sai.

Said root genin smirked and jumped out of the rolling ball's way. Chouji again rolled towards Sai in which he again dodged. This happened multiple times until the Akimichi lost all strength due to chakra depletion.

The onlookers gaped at the rather idiotic strategy of the Akimichi. Just roll and pray the opponent is too dumb to move away. Gekko Hayate deadpanned for a while before shaking his head in disapointment and declared Sai the winner.

The other examinees were diappointed. The first two match-up was so boring... it seemed the other battles won't be as exciting as they thought. The other genin had no time to think as the next two contestants was already chosen.

**Zaku Abumi Vs. Shino Aburame **

(F.Y.I Zaku's arm was not broken as they did not encounter Sasuke... That prick is dead. Okay, I don't really want to write this match cause you all know how Shino defeated him, so let's skip to the main attraction.)

**Namikaze Naruto Vs. Inuzuka Kiba**

Immediately the Inuzuka cheered "Yatta! Looks like we got lucky, Akamaru!" His dog canine companion barked happily. Naruto stared at him "Let's just get this over with..." He muttered.

But Kiba's enhanced Inuzuka senses heard him. "Looks like you are looking forward to your defeat, deadlast!" Naruto ignored him and jumped down to the arena. "Hurry up already." Kiba growled but complied.

"You better be ready for an ass-whooping of a lifetime!" He shouted. Naruto merely shook his head. Kiba was an embarassment to the village... The proctor looked at both of them. "Ready?" Both nodded. "Let the fourth match of the preliminaries begin!"

Kiba immediately ran towards Naruto, intend on ending with a single punch. From how Akamaru was merely standing at the side, Kiba wanted to fight Naruto himself.

Just as the Inuzuka was about to swing his fist at Naruto, he was launched backwards by a kick from Naruto. Kiba smashed against the wall, coughing out blood. That took everyone by surprise except his team. Especially the other Konoha genins. They all knew Naruto was the dead last... how did he manage that?

The Inuzuka got up, surprisingly and wiped the blood off his chin. "That was a lucky shot, Naruto, and you know it!" _(I didn't think I would have to use this against the _deadlast_)_ Kiba thought, narrowing his eyes. He knelt down on one knee and formed a handseal. "Gijyuu Ninpou, Shikyaku no Jutsu" (Beast Mimicry, Four legs technique) Chakra surged through his body, rearranging his body structure, becoming more animal-like.

"Let's get wild!" Kiba shouted as he charged towards Naruto, more wary this time. Said blonde looked at the Inuzuka boringly. _(That's fine. I need to let off some steam as well.) _Naruto leaned forward and with quick burst of chakra from his foot, he launched forward, and clotheslined the oncoming Kiba.

But he did not end it with that. Just before Kiba hit the ground, Naruto grabbed his neck with his left hand and gave a total of thirteen quick punches to Kiba's chest and stomach area with what looked like only a single punch to others. Before Naruto roundhouse kicked Kiba's face, the Inuzuka flying backwards again.

Asuma gaped, he was sure that Kiba's taijutsu was second to none in their generation, yet... The sarutobi looked at Danzo, wondering what the hell was that old man teaching his students.

Naruto stared at Kiba's unmoving body. "Pathetic..." he muttered and headed towards the stairs. _"W-wait a minute dobe... who said you could go?" _The weak voice came from Kiba who was slowly getting up. His head was bleeding, and from the looks of it he was just about ready to collapse.

"_I am not done with you yet._" Naruto respected his determination, but what he was doing was just mere persistence. Kiba reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out a soldier pill. He popped it in his mouth and immediately felt is strength returning. The Inuzuka cracked his knuckles "Now I am ready... I am going to end this Right Now!"

And again, Kiba ran forward but this time he jumped and spun in mid air. "Take this! Juujin Taijutsu : Tsuga!" A whirling tornado of claws and fangs was formed, heading towards Naruto.

Naruto noticed Akamaru still standing to the side and a devillish plan formed in his head. A second later, Kiba's Tsuga slammed into Naruto, and the blonde flew away a trail of blood following.

The Inuzuka stopped spinning and landed on his feet. "How was t- Wa-wait. What the? A-AKAMARU!" What was thought to be Naruto was actually his canine companion Akamaru, now bleeding through it's mouth with several rough gashes on its body.

This shocked everyone. Shikamaru immediately knew what happened. _(Naruto you evil bastard...)_

Kiba ran towards his dog and craddled the broken and battered body of Akamaru. "Akamaru! H-help! Somebody!" Hayate ran towards Kiba. "If you call for help, that is considered an immediate forfeit."

"I don't care! Just send a medic now!" The Inuzuka shouted, tears dripping down his chin. The proctor nodded and signalled for a medic-nin. "Because Inuzuka Kiba requested for medical assistance, it is considered an immediate for-" He was interrupted by laughter.

"Gyahahaha! How's that for tasting your own medicine?" Naruto laughed, standing at where Akamaru orginally stood. Kiba saw Naruto and ran towards him "What did you do, bastard!" He shouted. The blonde's smile was lost as he backhanded Kiba.

"What do you mean what I did? You were the one who attacked your own dog... I merely helped you with a Kawarimi." Realisation descended upon everyone. Using an opponent's attack to your own advantage. They did not know whether to call that despicable or genius.

With that said Naruto returned to his teammates, leaving Kiba with a dying dog and a bruised ego.

The next match up was quickly randomly picked as Akamaru was carried away and Kiba followed.

**Nara Shikamaru vs Sabaku no Temari**

The Nara looked his opponent and was about to complain about how troublesome it was when he noticed his Sensei was in the room as well. Not forgetting _That_, he jumped down to the arena without a word.

Temari had a more flashy descend as she shunshinned down. This guy was that Namikaze's teammate, it was better not to underestimate him and without delay, she revealed he battle fan. Shikamaru had already deduced she was a wind user, seeing that large metallic object on her back and the fact she was from Sunagakure, a village reknowned for their skilled Fuuton specialists.

"Hajime!" brought them out of their stupor and they both readied for battle. Naruto looked at Temari, noticing her shapely curves, hardly hidden by her tight battle kimono and her... before he thought anything else, he decided to look away quickly. _(Damned hormones..._) **(Naruto is a guy too, you know?)**

Temari started the battle and waved her battle fan. **"Kamaitachi no jutsu!"(Sickle weasel)** Which Shikamaru jumped away, only receiving a single scratch on his arm. He quickly analysed the situation, and instantly, multiple plans and scenarios were formed.

The Suna nin's technique was powerful and versatile, but the only drawback was its speed. It took too long for Temari to swing that gigantic folding fan, and in that moment Shikamaru attacked. **"Kageyaiba!"(Shadow blade)** The black blade flew towards Temari but was blocked by her fan.

Shikamaru smirked **"Kagenui"(Shadow stitching) **Several tendrils branched from the shadow blade and wrapped itself around Temari's battle fan. "W-what the?" She exclaimed, and had no choice but to abandon her weapon before the tendrils crawled onto her.

Shikamaru smirked "Now that I have your weapon, what are you going to do?" Temari glared at him before smirking "I still have backups." And reached behind her, pulling out two normal sized paper fans.

The Nara looked annoyed "I should have known... or did I?" Temari widened her eyes as she suddenly became immobile. "Seems like you have never heard of the Nara clan before, my clan specialise in immobilization." Temari looked down and noticed her shadow was connected to his.

Temari glared at him. Shikamaru smirked and put his hands together. Temari, forced to follow his movements, did as well. With a snap, he broke her two fans. "I don't want to do this but... **Kage Kubi Shibari no jutsu"(Shadow Neck Bind)** A hand formed from Temari's shadow snaked up her body and wrapped its fingers around her neck.

"Give up or I will snap your neck." Temari was reluctant to but once she felt the fingers tightening around her neck, she gave up.

Hayate nodded and Shikamaru released his jutsu. "Winner, Nara Shikamaru!" The Nara sighed "Mendok-" Before noticing Danzo glaring at him. He waved a sign of apology before returning to his teammates.

Upon returning to his teammates, Naruto noted him with annoyance. "You could have done much better..." Shikamaru took a moment to look at the Namikaze before muttering "Well she is a girl..."

The screen again went through the names of the remaining contestants, a second later it stopped.

**Sabaku no Gaara Vs. Kin Tsuchi **

Gaara looked at Kin with distaste before he shunshined down. His opponent was a little weak but if he could get blood, it was good. The sound nin jumped down and readied herself, her right hand already in her weapons pouch. "Hajime!" Hayate shouted and Kin immediately threw senbons at Gaara.

Which were easily blocked by his sand shield. The bell attached to the senbon had no chance to ring as Gaara's sand enveloped the needle and was hurled back at her.

Kin skillfully caught the senbon by the bell, careful not to let it ring near her.

Naruto narrowed his eye. That sand shield was interesting. He did not sense any chakra coming from the sand nin, but the sand rose up to defend Gaara. It had its own chakra? It was an auto defense, most likely.

The jinchuuriki looked at Kin before raising his hand, his sand rose and flew towards Kin and enveloped her whole body without mercy. "**Sabaku Kyu"(Desert coffin) **As he tightened his hand, Kin yelled out in pain. (Shit, he's going to...) Hayate thought but before he could do anything, Gaara formed a fist. **"Sabaku Soso!"(Desert Funeral)**

The sand surrounding Kin imploded and crushed her. Blood dripped out from the floating sand. Minato immediately stood up. "Shit!" He turned to face Baki "Hey, Sand Jounin! Our village is not responsible for any deaths caused by other villages. This sound Nin's death is on your village's hands, not ours."

Baki glanced at the Sound jonin who shook his head. The sand jounin turned back to the Hokage "I understand. Our village will take complete responsibility for my student's mistake." Minato nodded "Good." He ushered someone to clean up the mess and signalled for the preliminary rounds to continue.

Again, the screen flashed through teh remaining contestants' names and it stopped.

**Namikaze Naruto Vs. Dosu Kinuta **

"Looks like it's my turn again." Naruto muttered before jumping down to the arena. Dosu did the same without saying anything. The Namikaze was already pretty excited from Gaara's match. The sight of that much raw blood... Naruto shuddered.

Hayate looked at both of them "I will repeat the rules again. There will be no killing! Now, Hajime!" Dosu unvealed his Melody Arm and ran towards Naruto.

Immediately, Naruto released a large amount of Killing intent. So heavy that it affected all the other genins and even some chuunin in the room. The Killing intent stopped Dosu dead in his tracks. Considering the killing intent was directed at the sound nin, it was normal when he dropped to his knees, his legs losing all strength and unable to support him.

Dosu started sweating bullets and was shaking in fear. Naruto calmly walked towards him as his overwhelming presence increased in pressure. The Namikaze slowly took out a paint brush and after cutting himself, he used the blood to draw a seal on Dosu's forehead.

After it was done, the blonde whispered "Chakra Fuuin – Kai!" (Chakra seal – activate) A second later, Dosu screamed in pain. Multiple runes emerged from the base seal on his forehead and covered his entire body, trailing his chakra coils.

The screaming stopped as Dosu lost conscious. Hayate could only wonder what the hell happened when he declared Naruto the winner.

Everyone was looking at Naruto, wondering what he just did. What he did was simple, Naruto merely sealed off Dosu's chakra. Forcibly making him a civillian without any ability to summon or feel any chakra for his whole life.

**Okay, the next match is Kankuro Versus Ino. I am really tired right now so let's just say Kankuro won. Ino is injured but not dead. They picked their numbers for the Final exam and heres the match up. **

**Jin vs Naruto**

**Gaara vs Sai**

**Shino vs Kankuro**

**Shikamaru vs Winner between Shino and Kankuro **

**I know you are pissed but cmon, this is the longest chapter I've written about 8,000 words. Cut me some slack, will ya? Oh and also you might noticed some spelling mistakes. Thats because my Auto Spell Check is screwed. This chapter seems abit rushed because it is. Regarless, hope you enjoyed it. **

**Anyways, Hate it, Love it, Please review. **

Seriously, Review.

_Well if you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (evil laughter) _


	10. Rise of the Oppressed

The Hero's Brother Chapter Eight

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto nor anything else I may have used.

Author's notes : Hey, I am here with another chapter of The Hero's Brother! Yay! Anyways, it's holiday season right now and I am busy as hell. Trust me, I have even more stuff to do in the holidays than in school. But I still managed to cramp this Chapter within my tight schedule so you better enjoy it.

Sorry if this chapter is kinda short, this is just a warm-up for the next chapter. So, no. The Chuunin Exams Final Exam will be the next chapter.

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

A day off was given to Team Ten as a reward because all three managed to advance to the third round of the Chuunin Exams. Naruto did not went go home that night. He was actually afraid of what his father would do to him when he got home. Naruto could still remember the cold dark glare his father gave him after they were dismissed.

Him being paired with Jin for the final exam was both the best and worst thing that could happen. Naruto could humiliate the 'Genius' in front of Konoha but if he won...

The memory of Minato landing blow after blow on Naruto's immobile body came to mind.

But boy was he in for a surprise when Danzo approached him the next day.

"Keep quiet and follow me." Was all the old war hawk said before disappearing. Naruto had already have this happened quite too many times and learned how to follow his sensei.

They reached the east wall and stopped. A chuunin was standing guard and when he saw Danzo, the chuunin bowed.

Danzo turned to Naruto who was behind him. "I shall give you a privilege that I have never given anyone. You will be the first non-root affiliated shinobi to enter the Root ANBU HQ." Before Naruto could reply, Danzo turned to the chuunin and nodded.

The root nin proceeded to tap a few portions of the massive wall before forming a handsign. A quiet rumble and a part of the wall sank into the floor, revealing a doorway and a set of stairs that led downwards.

Danzo quickly descended down the stairs and Naruto followed him tightly, the door way closed up immediately. The stairway was dark and damp with only a few torches along the walls giving limited illumination. After walking for what felt like ten minutes, a bright light was seen at the end.

They walked into the light and revealed a large dojo with dozens of shinobi both young and old training. "Welcome to ROOT headquarters, Naruto."

The blonde surveyed the scene with slight interest. "I told you Danzo, I will not join Root and that is final!"

Said Root commander chuckled. "But Naruto, I am not asking you to join us..." Naruto raised an eyebrow at that.

"No... I am asking you to lead us."

A deafening silence. The training root ninja stopped what they were doing and watched their leader.

"WHAT!" Naruto loudly exclaimed. Even the cold, apathetic Namikaze could not help but be shocked.

(Bet that threw you guys off)

Danzo smiled "Yes. I as the current Commander of the ANBU unit ROOT proclaim you, Namikaze Naruto as the new leader of Root.

The blonde stared at Danzo incredulously "B-but I-I can't! I-I... wait... This is a trick isn't it. I don't know what you are planning but-"

Danzo frowned. "Let's face it Naruto. I am getting old... You know I am 81 this year... I have never appointed a successor nor have I thought about one. I always thought I would be able to reign over Root until I have acquired the position of Hokage but there is just not enough time. And you, Namikaze Naruto, is by all means my true successor."

The Namikaze looked down the floor, thinking about what his sensei just said.

"Sure I have thought Shikamaru and Sai as well, but you are my true apprentice. I have taught you everything I know." Danzo continued. "Your dream is to be the strongest shinobi in the world right? With the help of Root, you can achieve that dream. Lead Root, and conquer Konoha. Rid this village of its Tyrannic ruler – Namikaze Minato."

Danzo reached into his robe and fished out a golden emblem, diamond in shape that had the ANBU symbol on it. "This is the Root emblem. It signifies the holder as the Root Commander. Take it, Naruto..."

The blond stared at the golden emblem before reaching out and received it from Danzo. At once, all the ANBU in training appeared before Naruto and knelt on one knee. "All Hail Naruto-Sama!"

Naruto stared at the root nins "I understand." He tightened his grip on the emblem. "I shall become Hokage and become the strongest Shinobi the world will ever see. That... That is a promise!"

Danzo nodded in acknowledgement "Now let's move on to your training for the next month!"

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

(Meanwhile at the Namikaze Mansion, with Jin)

"Well, go pack your bags son, me and Jiraiya-sensei will be taking you away for some intense training for the next month!" Minato said excitedly. Jin could only groan in annoyance. "Aww, come on dad, I don't want to train. I am going to the Third exam aren't I? Why do I need more training?"

The Yondaime only smiled "There's nothing wrong in training more than what's needed, but if you don't want to, we don't have to train all the time." Jin grinned in return, "Okay dad!" Minato grinned back and ruffled Jin's hair. "That's my boy! Jiraiya Sensei and I will be teaching you how to summon the Toads for battle, and also more importantly, the usage of that lil' fur-ball's chakra."

(Which is correct? Me and Jiraiya, or Jiraya and me?)

At that moment, the infamous Gama Sennin flew in through the window. "You ready kid?" He asked Jin. The Jinchuuriki took a moment to absorb the question "Definitely, ero-sennin!"

(I know, you guys don't like Author's notes in the middle of the story, I just don't want to forget putting in the A/N at the bottom when I'm finished. Anyways, I think that calling Jiraiya "Ero-sennin" is a little obnoxious and I kinda gag whenever I see Naruto disrespect one of my favourite characters like that.)

Jiraiya frowned at that. "Don't call me that, brat! Be more respectful... like your dad!" Minato laughed at the two's interaction. "He picked that up from Kushina, you know?"

The Frog Hermit pouted "Like mother like son, huh? Speaking of annoying brats, where's Kushina?" Jiraiya asked. "Oh she's in the kitchen making lunch. Kushina was really happy when she saw Jin come back unharmed." The Yondaime answered.

Jin interrupted their conversation. "Of course I would be unharmed after following Dad's map!" The Jinchuuriki puffed up his chest, giving a self satisfied smirk. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Map?" Minato grinned, "Yep, I gave my son the map of Training Ground 44 and on it, I marked the safest and also the fastest route to the tower. It would have only taken a day, but I don't know how Jin reached the tower in three days. The other teams couldn't have confronted his team, because of all the 'Beware of extremely violent beasts' Warning signs I put along the route..."

Jiraiya frowned. "Minato how could you have done that? I thought that Sarutobi Sensei always emphasized on fairness and equality. How could you help your son cheat?" The blonde shrugged. "A ninja is supposed to use every tool at his disposal, a map is merely a tool for Jin to succeed."

The white haired hermit sighed. "Minato, there isn't a short cut for everything. The chuunin exams is not only a chance for genins to become chuunin. It is also a lesson. A big lesson for both the failures and those who succeeded. How would Jin learn anything if you help him to cheat?"

Jin looked at Jiraiya incredulously. "What's the big deal, Ero-sennin? I advanced to the third exam, it's all that matters." Jiraiya let out a deep breath of disappointment. "It's not the same, Jin. Both of you just don't understand. Meet me at the Northern Gate, we will travel from there to Jin's training spot." With that said, Jiraiya went out the window, disappearing.

Minato and Jin stared at the open window both wondering what was wrong with their favorite white haired pervert today.

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

(2 weeks into training)

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Jin shouted. A tiny green colored toad, a quarter the size of his palm appeared. "Dammit! I am already putting lots of my chakra in the jutsu, but still, I can't summon any toad bigger than this tiny little thing!" Said Toad merely narrowed its eyes and hit Jin's face with its unnaturally long tounge.

Jiraiya stood by the side, shaking his head in exasperation. Minato had already left, claiming he was going to bring back notes for Jin from the mansion. Even a fool could tell the Yondaime was quickly becoming more and more frustrated at Jin's complete incompetence

"For the last time, you have to reach within yourself and summon as much chakra as you can!" Jiraiya said. Jin only grabbed his head in confusion "That's what I have been trying to do for the last two weeks!"

The toad sage pinched the bridge of his nose. Was this kid really Minato's child? He could swear the blonde was much more talented and easier to teach.

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

"Clang!" The sound of metal hitting metal resonated throughout the wood covered walls. A Root jounin wielding a Odachi was locked in combat with a smaller opponent. With a flash of silver, the Root Jounin was knocked away but landed on his feet safely.

Naruto was currently attempting to fend off five jounins at the same time only using a Tsurugi. (think Orochimaru's Kusanagi but the hilt is a traditional Katana hilt) Sometimes they would attack one by one, sometimes they would attack all together. Leaving Naruto hard-pressed to block all their attacks.

The five jounin nodded simultaneously before jumping towards him, each holding a sharp weapon – Two katanas, Tanto, Odachi, and a Tachi. The training was supposed to let him learn how to deal with multiple pronged attacks, how to deal with different weapons, and _how to kill a comrade without remorse._

Naruto let loose a breath and with a quick surge of chakra, he flew into their midst. Five quick strikes and blood splattered the walls.

_Clap, Clap, Clap._ Naruto looked towards the source of the clapping. Danzo stood by the side admiring Naruto's handiwork. "Good. Very good." The blonde stabbed the Tsurugi into the floor. The blood dripping from the cold hard metal blade to the wooden floors.

"This is wrong. I previously had no object killing your men. But I have been killing five of them every day. Altogether, I have already killed 70 root jounin. Do you really have the means to replace them?" Naruto asked.

Danzo looked at the blonde "Do not worry about pawns. They are merely sacrificial pieces." Naruto narrowed his eyes "You know, you are starting to sound like a certain sannin..."

The old war-hawk raised an eyebrow "Please do not compare me to Orochimaru. He derives pleasure from killing and murder of innocents, I only do what I do out of necessity." Naruto frowned. "And killing your subordinates is necessary?"

"To help with your growth, yes. It is a necessary sacrifice." Danzo replied monotonously. The blonde eyed his sensei then turned away with a "Tch..."

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

(Third week into training)

Jin stood in the Horse stance, his face was a look of concentration before he formed several handseals. "Pig, Dog, Rooster, Monkey, Sheep. Kuchiyose no jutsu!" A plume of smoke appeared.

A loud croak. The smoke dispersed to reveal an extremely small toad with its tail still behind. "How can this be!" Jin yelled at the top of his lungs. Jiraiya who was leaning against a tree, asleep, opened one eye lazily. No matter how untalented Jin was, that had to be a limit.

Minato clapped "Great job, son! Just a bit more, you are so close!" He complimented, donning a rather fake smile before moving towards Jiraiya. "Sensei, is this normal?" The white haired hermit sighed "What do you mean? The jutsu or your son?"

The blonde squirmed a little "Both. Could the Kyuubi be interfering with his summoning, or could the jutsu be malfunctioning?" Jiraiya sighed again "That's not possible. In fact, Kyuubi should be helping him with summoning. The additional chakra gained from the fox should be a boost."

The Yondaime looked down before brightening up. "Sensei, do you think its time we trained Jin to use _that?_" Jiraiya looked interested. "Yes... maybe it is time."

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

"Squelch!" Naruto stabbed his Tsurugi even further in his last opponent's gut. This one was quite challenging, he must have been a kenjutsu specialist. Be dragged the sword downwards, narrowly missing the crotch by a few inches before he dragged out the blade forcefully, his opponent's blood and gore splattering the floor and Naruto's body.

The body fell down with a thud. Naruto raised his blood covered hand and brought it near his mouth. He always wondered what the blood of others would taste like... But before he could sate his curiosity, a root messenger appeared by the door. "Naruto-sama, Danzo-sama wishes to see you."

Naruto looked at his blood covered clothes "Understood, tell him I will be there in five minutes. I have to change into fresher clothing. The messenger bowed "Hai!" and left.

Five minutes later, Naruto was donning a black colored standard shinobi uniform. That was he always wore since arriving in Root's HQ.

He opened the door to Danzo's room without waiting for permission and sat down on the tatami mat. The Root commander was already long used to it.

Danzo stared straight at the sitted Naruto. "You have completed your kenjutsu training. For the rest of the week you can either rest or train in whatever you want. But first, I have a reward for you, for killing a 104 root jounins thus far."

Naruto looked surprised. "104? What about the..." The warhawk frowned "The only one you did not kill, you maimed." The blonde could remember him. Wore a blank mask with the kanji for fire on the forehead. He was quite skilled in what Naruto liked to call – Fancy Footwork. The blonde severed his spine after getting bored of the Root jounin prancing around him.

"Anyways, here is the reward" From behind Danzo pulled out a rather large scroll. Naruto received it with both hands and delicately opened it up. His eyes widened. "T-this is-!"

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Jin stood up, confused at what he was looking at. He was apparently in a sewer of some sort. The Jinchuuriki rubbed his head in confusion, wondering just why in the world Ero-Sennin pushed him off a cliff. The last thing he could remember was falling through the ravine.

Grumbling about how to get back at Jiraiya, he suddenly stopped and turned his head towards the end of the corridor which had a strange red glow, pulsing... as if seducing him to move towards it.

Slowly, Jin walked towards the red light at the end of the corridor, was an immense room, and on the other side of the room, was a gigantic cage. Jin looked at the cage in curiosity, wondering whether Konoha kept a gigantic pet in its sewers.

Walking forward, he was suddenly flung back by an enormous amount of a mixture of Killing Intent and Demonic Chakra. From the darkness of the cage, two eyes appeared. Grotesque red eyes with a slitted pupils.

A large mouth opened. **"You... dare disturb my slumber!" **With a roar so fierce, Jin almost peed his pants. Stuttering in fear, Jin managed to ask a barely understandable "W-w-who a-are y-yo-you?"

The red eyes brightened, as if in amusement. **"I am the nine tailed Bijuu, Kyuubi no Kitsune! Tremble before my presence, mortal, for I am the Ruler of Makai, Emperor of Hell!" **Of course the fox was lying. The Ruler of Makai was an ancient demon, Beelzebub. One of the original arch angels who rebelled with Satan. And the Emperor of Hell or also known as the Lord of the Afterlife was the Shinigami himself. But humans did not know that...

Jin was near tears, as the demonic visage of Kyuubi was now fully in view. Slick red fur covered its body and nine massive tails swung back and forth behind the demon.

It wasn't known very much, but Kyuubi is actually a very good judge of character. One look, and it could see all the good and bad traits of the person. Kyuubi carefully analyzed its vessel.

_**Greed... Sloth... Pride... Anger... Envy...** _What a sinful human, containing five of the seven sins...

Somehow, Jin regained his lost confidence. His somewhat slow brain put things together and _finally_ figured out the nine tailed demon infront of him was the Kyuubi sealed within him. And for some stupid reason, because Jin thought the Fox was his prisoner, he could order it around.

"He-Hey! Stupid fox! Since you are living inside of me, why not pay me some rent from now on?" Jin declared with a smirk, thinking he got the fox.

Red eyes widened in anger while Kyuubi's massive body began trembling in wrath. Various thoughts of death and destruction flew through his mind. The thought of ripping this... _insolent human_ limb from limb could barely sate its bloodlust.

Seeing the trembling Kyuubi, Jin's smirk grew even more as his face could be the very definition of arrogance and conceit.

"**How dare you... How dare you! RAAAAHHH!" **Kyuubi roared in its fury. The water shook in slight waves, and the walls around them started shaking. A claw flew towards the cages' opening and it almost reached Jin's head before stopping. **"Damn this seal! Mark my words, human... You _Shall_ regret your words. I will tear you apart! I will chew you into bits! You want chakra? You will have more than your fragile human body can take!"**

A wave of dark red flew through the cage slamming itself into Jin's body. He was forcefully ejected from his mind.

(In the real world)

Red chakra tendrils burst from Jin's seal. As if spinning a cocoon, The tendrils began wrapping itself around Jin's body.

Minato and Jiraiya who was watching on the cliff, was starting to worry before a surge of demonic chakra brought their attention to Jin. A deep red chakra surrounded him before a scream of pain erupted from him.

They could see his body literally breaking down. Pieces of skin started to burn off, muscles started rupturing. Demonic chakra was actually a double edged sword, for both demons and humans.

Demons could go berserk from overuse of demonic chakra, like Shukaku. And Humans' body would destroy itself from too much demonic chakra. Exactly what was happening with Jin.

The Jinchuuriki quickly fell unconscious form the pain. Seeing his son's eyelids fall, Minato yelled his name and using the Hiraishin tag he had placed on Jin before, he reappeared beside Jin.

Grabbing his hand, Minato and Jin reappeared back on the cliff with a yellow flash. The Yondaime gripped Jin's shoulders yelling his name, before pulling back his hands, the demonic chakra burning his palms.

Jiraiya was more calm and collected than his student. Observing Jin's condition, he went through all the possible solutions, their drawbacks and results. Selecting one of the many sealing jutsus, he went through some handseals.

This fuuinjutsu was one he created with Minato. They figured the possibility Kyuubi might forcibly shove Jin full of its chakra, breaking his body. Hence, they worked together and created a jutsu that would be able to completely seal off Kyuubi's influence. Temporarily of course.

"**Akuma-Hosuto Bunri no jutsu!" **(Demon-Host Seperation Technique) Jiraiya yelled out. A burst of chakra came from his palm before a mirror of Jin's seal appeared on it. The seal glowed red and the runes around it fused together and formed a new set of runes.

The gama-sannin slammed his palm onto Jin's gut and the seal on his palm combined with Jin's. The point of the Jutsu was to effectively cancel out Jin's seal without releasing the trapped beast.

Almost instantly, most of the red chakra surrounding Jin flew back into the seal while the rest dispersed into the air.

Jiraiya stood before Jin and Minato. The jinchuuriki was a bloody mess. Because the connection to Kyuubi was cut off, it meant his speedy regeneration was disabled temporarily. With his skin still missing, Jin looked like a bloody carcass, messily skinned by a psychopath.

Whereas Minato was nursing his burnt palm. Jiraiya could see Minato wincing at his palms, a sign of chakra poisoning. He had to get them to the hospital but first...

The white-haired sannin formed several handseals and sealed Jin into a timeless sphere. For the jinchuuriki, his time would stop within the sphere. Sighing, Jiraiya heaved the sphere onto his shoulders and got Minato to his feet. Why couldn't anything go right with Jin...

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

"**Kuchiyose no jutsu!"** a massive plume of smoke appeared out of thin air. As the smoke dispersed, Black beady eyes stared at the man, no boy, infront below him. The last person to summon him was the Amegakure boy – Hanzo, was it? Yes, Hanzo... he summoned him right before he was defeated in battle by the rinnegan user.

The boy immediately went down on one knee. "Sanshouo-sama! I humbly request your permission to summon the noble Salamander clan in battle!"

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Done. A little cliffhanger right there. Or is it? My definition for cliffhanger may be different... Anyways, I know it's short please don't flame me for that. I know all of you are disappointed. "After one month you give us this!" Sorry, alright? I promise the next chapter will definitely be longer. But as to when I'm posting it... Well, I ain't promising anything else.

Hoped you enjoyed it, but Love it, Hate it. Please Review. Just click that button right below.

Seriously, Review.

_Well if you don't, I know where you live, I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (evil laughter)_


	11. The Hero versus His Brother

The Hero's Brother Chapter Nine

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or anything else I may have used.

Author's notes : A package delivery for the fans. It's THB chapter nine. Please sign here and here... and initials here.

Jokes aside, here's chapter nine of The Hero's Brother. I was really pumped to write this chapter after reading your reviews. Hurray for 400 reviews! Just thought ya' ought to know, I had many breaks in between writing the story, so it will seem _Very_ choppy!

And I know I promised a longer chapter, but I have just been so busy! With the new year, comes another school year, and I have been running all over buying textbooks and whatnot. I had wanted to out the entire third exam in this chapter, but hey, what's the rush?

So ENJOY!

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

(Day of the Chuunin exams. Location : Arena)

It was the day of the final Chuunin Exam. Too many, it was just a form of entertainment. For some, it was a chance to advance to the next rank. For Shikamaru, well... he didn't really wanted to there. For Naruto, the Chuunin Exams was two things. A chance for promotion and a chance, no, an opportunity to humiliate Namikaze Jin.

Five of the seven competitors had already arrived whilst Jin and Naruto was still missing. The five finalists stood in the middle of the arena. Nervous, excited, and a little fear in everyone. Even Gaara. The Sand Jinchuuriki had seen what the blonde could do. Most of him was already bloodthirsty but a small part of Gaara was already scared of facing him.

The Proctor, standing in front of the five of them, noticed two genins missing. Those two had better arrive soon or he would be forced to disqualify them. But considering how one of them is the Hokage's son, that wasn't likely. In fact, the Hokage himself wasn't even here yet.

The Kazekage who was sitted at the kage's stand, narrowed his eyes in frustration. If he himself decided to show up on time, he expected the damn Hokage to do the same. Especially if said Hokage is known as the Yellow Flash, user of the Hiraishin no jutsu. And even more especially if said Kage lived in the same village!

But that was before a large flash of light appeared in the arena. Namikaze Minato, donning the white Kage robes holding his famous three pronged Kunai in his right hand, while the other was holding on to the shoulder of his Jinchuuriki son, Namikaze Jin!

Looking at the proctor, Minato gave an arrogant smirk "We aren't late are we?" The proctor, Gekko Hayate gave a fake smile before assuring them of their impeccable punctuality with much sarcasm.

The Yondaime looked at the competitors and after seeing Naruto not with them, his smirk got even wider. "It seems that the last finalist is not here yet." He sighs deeply. "With much regret, I must dis-" But he was interrupted.

"Who says I'm not here yet, Hokage-sama?" A sudden voice coming from the entrance turned everyone's heads. From the shadows of the entrance, Naruto appeared. Many gasps went around the stadium.

The blonde was wearing his regular all black shinobi uniform. Only it was stained with a dark liquid. Naruto bloody and battered walked into the arena. His normally golden blonde hair was now a mixture of crimson and yellow.

Naruto was limping into the field while cradling his left arm. Minato narrowed his eyes "What happened to you..." The Yondaime was obviously angry about _something..._ Naruto smiled "It turned out several Konoha Jounins was _very_ opposed to me winning my match today and ambushed me." Harsh whispers went through the crowd.

"It's okay though, I took care of them for you, _Hokage-sama._" Naruto grinned before holding up six headbands, all stained in dark red. "Weirdly enough, they mentioned your name, _Hokage-sama..._ Something about you telling them to stop me from coming here... But I guess they were just lying, weren't they, _Hokage-Sama?_" Naruto finished, emphasizing on the last 'Hokage-sama'.

Minato looked at the headbands, quietly seethed. "Shut up and get in line with your fellow genin. Or do you feel not up to the challenge, since you are injured after all." Naruto chuckled. "I wouldn't miss this for anything." The older blonde clenched his fist before using Hiraishin to reappear at the Kage Stand.

Hayate raised an eyebrow at the exchange "Well it seems all of you are here." He said, looking at the genins before he faced the crowd. "The first match will be Namikaze Jin against Namikaze Naruto!" At that, many started questioning themselves and the people beside them, whether they have ever heard of the existance of another Namikaze, moreover the fourth's son.

The proctor turned back to the finalists "Jin, Naruto, stay here. The rest of you go to the waiting area." The five who did not belong moved off towards the waiting area where Hayate had pointed out.

Staring each other down, Jin and Naruto mentally prepared themselves. The Jinchuuriki decided to start the battle first with taunts and insults. Bullshit like 'Bloody idiot' was used repeatedly, making use of Naruto's current blood-stained attire.

Using the Shosen no Jutsu (Mystical Palm), an A-ranked medical ninjutsu, Naruto was able to get his arm and leg working. At least for the whole duration of the fight. Already, the judges were impressed by the high-level medical ninjutsu that was just used.

The proctor turned towards them. "Now, I want a clean and fair fight. Although I'm required to say that, we all know as shinobis, honor isn't really our forte. Now... HAJIME!"

Jin jumped back, gaining some distance between the two. Naruto stared straight into his brother's eyes. "Jin... I am only going to say this once. I am not here to win. I am here to utterly defeat and humiliate you." Said jinchuuriki narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth in anger. "As if, loser. Trash will be trash, no matter how big they talk."

Naruto, ignored him and started the battle with a burst of speed. He immediately reappeared beside Jin giving a kick to his ribs. Jin flew away, landing on the ground with a large cry of pain. The blonde looked his brother and whispered. "I will definitely... definitely..." Naruto reached down him and unbuckled a scroll tied to his waist. Unrolling it, Naruto bit his thumb and spread a line of blood on the scroll's storage seal.

A plume of smoke appeared. Naruto grabbed the object he just unsealed out of the smoke. And settled into a stance. This is it. This is what he trained past his humanly limits for the past month. Years of tolerated bloodlust and anger... Today he will finally be able to unleash his wrath against the object of his fury.

It already took everything he had not to end the little bastard's life right there and then. But no.. he will slowly torture him. Jin... Jin will wish he had never been born!

As the smoke dispersed, in his hands was the Tsurugi Naruto had been practicing with for the month. With a burst of chakra from his feet, Naruto jumped towards Jin, his sword halfway into a slash.

Jin barely fished out a Kunai from his messy, unorganized tool pouch and was able to block Naruto's swing. Only for a second though. The next second, Naruto had already sliced the Kunai in two, but stopped his blade right before it hit Jin's forehead.

His brother's eyes widened in fear. _(No.. not enough. He has to suffer more!)_ Naruto kicked Jin away. "Jin, put up more of a fight! Or else I might not be able to stop in time and really accidently kill you." The jinchuuriki narrowed his eyes in anger. "Don't talk big, trash! Take my Rasengan!" Summoning two shadow clones, he began to form the spiraling sphere.

Naruto was torn between two decisions. Overpower him with a stronger technique, or overpower him with another Rasengan? Deciding on the latter, he resealed the sword and easily formed a rasengan in his palm within a second, meanwhile Jin and his clones were _still _trying to form the rasengan. Naruto deadpanned at his twin.

Five seconds later. "Yosh! Now, eat this! Rasengan!" Jin yelled as his two kage bunshins dispersed and he charged towards Naruto, holding the rasengan.

Naruto did not bother to brace himself for impact. As Jin's attack neared him, the blonde merely put out his palm with the rasengan and his technique met Jin's. A second was all he needed as Naruto's rasengan easily ripped through Jin's sphere.

Jin stared at Naruto's rasengan in fear, it was an inch from his face. "No... This isn't enough!" Dispersing the rasengan, Naruto kicked Jin away again. "Come on! Put up a goddamn fight already! I don't want this to end too quickly. I am going to savor every moment..." The blonde yelled across the field.

**(I can't help myself but I have to complain about the working conditions on this website. You guys have no idea how hard it is to write out the battle between Naruto and Jin. It's like pitting a civillian infant against a S-ranked ninja. There's barely anything to write with! Is it my fault for making Jin so pathetically weak?) **

The jinchuuriki picked himself up glaring at his twin. "Teme, don't get too cocky just because you got in one or two lucky blows!" _(I didn't want to use this so soon, but...) _Jin reluctantly formed a handseal. Naruto raised an eyebrow before his entire body glowed and he erupted in pain.

Glowing blue lines covered his body in an intricate pattern. Even from the massive pain tolerance Naruto had gained, nothing could be compared to this nerve wrecking pain. Just PAIN coursing through his entire body. He couldn't help it. Naruto screamed. He fell down on one knee and screamed in pain.

The audience looked at the lesser known Namikaze in confusion. Did one of the 'hero's' attack reach him?

Minato smirked. Not an arrogant smirk. But one of those 'I just killed my greatest enemy' smirk. Jin's face mirrored his father's. Seeing Naruto's pain he started to explain what just happened.

"That glowing thing on your body? That's a fuuinjutsu dad helped me put on you. It's completely tattooed on your body with invisible ink. I don't really understand it, but from what dad told me, whenever I make this seal right here," Jin proved his point by forming the same handseal. Naruto's pain intensified.

"You feel even more pain!" Jin finished. By the time his explanation ended, Minato was looking a little nervous. Little did Jin know, the field had a jutsu placed on it. A jutsu where the conversation between the two combatants would be broadcasted throughout the stadium. Half were looking at the yondaime, mouth agape while the other half was looking at Jin, eyes scrunched in disdain.

As the crowd started to boo did Jin realize he just _Fucked up_ big time with a capital 'F'. In that one moment he loss concentration, the fuuinjutsu lost power. Naruto grabbed ahold of that chance and despite the devastating pain in him, he got up, charged forward, lunged forward at his brother. His hand reached out and caught Jin's throat in a vice grip.

Still holding his throat, Naruto ran forward, dragging Jin along and BAM! He smashed Jin into the arena's wall. Oh, he was _Beyond_ pissed. "You little fucker!" Naruto shouted, angry beyond belief. Jin was desperately clawing at his hand in a futile attempt at making him let go. Jin's hands were released from the seal, and because of the lack of oxygen, he forgot about forming it again.

Jin's eyes rolled into the back of his head. And all of a sudden, Naruto felt a pulling sensation. And then... darkness.

The blonde opened his eyes to a strange sight. He was lying in water, staring at pipes across the ceiling. He stood up, only to see his brother lying down unconscious a few feet from him._(What the hell just happened...)_ Naruto looked around, trying to find an exit but a loud booming voice interrupted his search.

"**Another human? How is this possible?"** Locating the direction where the voice came form, Naruto ran towards the end of the corridor, and found the source of it. And everything was clear to him. Cage, Seal, Fox... Naruto looked up at Kyuubi behind the bars. "You must be the Kyuubi."

Said fox eyes widened in amusement. **"At least you are smarter than my host. Tell me, you look like that accursed mortal who sealed me in here, are you related to him in anyway, human?" **Naruto thought about his choices for a brief moment while Kyuubi observed the human infront of it.

_**(Yes... I see it. Confusion... Ambition... Cunning... and dark... yes very dark...) **_Naruto made up his mind. "My name is Namikaze Naruto, son of the 'accursed human' who sealed you in to my moronic monkey of a brother. And now, you answer my question." Kyuubi smiled **"And what is that, human. And understand, my patience is wearing thin."**

Naruto nodded "Why did you attack Konoha?" Kyuubi laughed. **"You humans amuse me. There isn't a reason for every action in the world, you know? I woke up from my thousand year slumber and they were there and I just wanted some destruction and mayhem." **

(Yeah, I know Madara used Kyuubi to attack Konoha. But I ain't giving so much power to the Uchiha in this story. So they can't control the bijuu. End of story.)

"**Now it's my turn to ask you a question right?" **Kyuubi gave a toothy smile, his massive teeth showing. Naruto shrugged, seeing no problems in their exchange. **"Will you tear off this seal?" **Naruto smirked. "And not all humans are as stupid as my brother, you know?" Kyuubi narrowed its eyes. **"You dare defy me!" **

"Oh shut it, fox. You may think all humans are brainless monkeys that fear you. But from how I see it, there's nothing to fear from a powerless hair-ball in a cage." Naruto casually said while turning his back to the beast. With that, Naruto pushed himself out of his brother's mind, which is strangely a sewer... considering his upbringing, one would think his might would resemble a castle, leaving Kyuubi roaring and shouting death threats.

He returned to the real world, finding his hand still on his brother's throat. Only a short moment passed in the real world... _(That was weird...)_ But it was time to end this. Still gripping Jin's throat, he dragged Jin off the wall and hurled him across the field.

Jin landed near the middle of the arena as his conscious entered his mind. The jinchuuriki arrived in the same sewer but this time, he could already hear Kyuubi roaring in anger. When Jin entered the room, he was treated to a terrifying sight. Kyuubi was slamming itself at the cage, not caring about its welfare.

The cage looked close to buckling under Kyuubi's immense pressure. It took a minute for Kyuubi to notice Jin standing not far from the cage shaking in fear. **"HUMAN! I WILL RIP YOU APART!" **By now, the Kyuubi was already blinded by rage.

But all of a sudden, Kyuubi froze. It appeared to be deep in thought. It was actually quite terrifying for Jin to see a massive beast suddenly freeze. **"Human..." **Kyuubi began. **"You are fighting that impudent whelp outside correct?" **

Jin could only stutter in reply. "Y-You me-mean N-n-naruto?" Kyuubi narrowed its eyes. **"Yes... that mortal who dared defy me. The human called Naruto. I will not repeat this. I shall grant you my power and in return... you will kill him. You shall destroy that pathetic human who defied Kyuubi!" **

Jin widened his eyes. Even with his tiny cranium, he could understand the possibilities, the prospects of such a privilege. "O-of course, I will crush that trash like the maggot he is!" Kyuubi's eyes lit in amusement. **"Then go, my vassel!" **

Jin flew back into reality with a massive explosion of demonic chakra. A wave of killing intent swept the entire arena. Even Naruto could not help but freeze for a second or two. Jin rose up dramatically slow. Naruto widened his eyes. _(I can't let him strike first!)_

Unsealing his Tsurugi Naruto raced forward. With the Kyuubi's chakra out, it wasn't a battle to win now. It was a battle to survive. Meanwhile, the audience all either outright fainted or cringed in fear at the sight of the concentrated demonic chakra surrounding their 'Hero'.

The Kazekage almost stood up in shock, barely able to control his emotions. _(Th-that's!) _ While Minato seated beside the Kazekage brightened considerably, forgetting the previous looks of disdain.

Jin on the other hand was feeling estatic. The rush demonic chakra gave him was comparable to nothing Jin ever felt. It wasn't as malicious as the last time Kyuubi gave him chakra. This... this was amazing. Jin felt stronger than ever. Hell, he felt like he could take over the entire elemental nations if he wanted.

The Jinchuuriki watched as his brother flew towards him and thought about stopping him. To his gleeful surprise, a claw formed from the chakra cloak reach out towards Naruto.

Naruto seeing the chakra claw heading his way, pumped wind and fire chakra into his tsurugi. A bright white flame emerged from the hilt and enveloped he blade. With a single slice of his sword, a wave white flame flew towards the chakra claw. The two attacks hit and for a few seconds, the two techniques battled it out, each struggling for dominance.

But to the blonde's dismay, the chakra claw emerged victorious as it barely tore through the burning wave of fire-wind chakra. As the demonic hand reached nearer and nearer, Naruto with all his strength slashed apart the demonic claw and stopped.

That attack really took alot out of him. He wasn't the one with a demon stuck in him and hence have an unlimited amount of chakra. No, he was only human with limits. Jin for some reason was still standing in the same spot. The jinchuuriki raised his hands and looked at them, marvelling at his own strength.

Reaching for a soilder pill within his pouch, Naruto immedately popped two in his mouth. Even if he wasn't a jinchuuriki, his chakra reserve was still considerably large, at least twice an average jounin. Naruto could see his regular attacks wasn't going to work here.

He had a limited amount of options. Ninjutsu might work, but from what he have seen, Jin would just overpower any technique he threw. Taijutsu was out of the question. Demonic chakra was extremely deadly to humans, the red cloak would burn his hand even before his attacked reached him.

Genjutsu might work, but there was no telling how it would affect a jinchuuriki infused with demonic chakra. That left Kenjutsu and... Fuuinjutsu! Instantly, a dozen sealing arrays flew through Naruto's head. Yes, that would work...

As Jin stared at his hands, marvelling in the extreme surge of power Kyuubi's chakra granted him... still, Naruto began carefully drawing almost random symbols on his tsurugi. Sealing arrays. A minute past, and for some Goddamnned reason, Jin was still fucking looking at himself. Naruto also finished inscribing his Tsurugi with the appropriate sealing arrays.

"This is it..." Forming a seal, Naruto's tsurugi glowed a light blue hue. He glared at Jin with a fire in his eyes before reappearing infront of him. His sword almost hit Jin before a spike made of the demonic chakra stabbed Naruto in the gut.

The crowd gasped. Jin laughed in glee... Before being slashed in the back. "Dance of the cresent moon..." Naruto whispered and the red cloak protecting Jin's back disappeared. The fuuinjutsu drawn onto Naruto's sword was one known as the Impure Banishment Seal. It had a simple purpose. Banishing inhuman influences. It was entirely useless by itself as the seal needed a medium to properly banish the evil, thus Naruto's sword was perfect for the job.

Another slash and the cloak diminished in power. Blood quickly flowed down Jin's back as Kyuubi tried desperately to regenerate the missing blood and flesh. It would do no good for the beast to lose its vessel after all.

Within its cage, Kyuubi roared in all its fury. Its pathetic vessel was useless! More! More Chakra! And another blast of chakra was sent Jin's way. A wave of demonic chakra flooded the arena and Naruto was blown back abit. A tail formed behind Jin, then another, and another!

The blonde found himself staring at the Kyuubi's Container in awe at the utterly enormous amount of demonic chakra and killing intent. "U-unbelievable..."

The audience was getting extremely uneasy. Adults who felt the beast's chakra years ago was either shaking in fear or was getting battle ready, prepared to fight against Kyuubi again.

Naruto tightened his jaw and prepared to use That jutsu. The blonde was what most would call... a prodigy in all arts known to Shinobi, including medical jutsus. After witnessing smaller men take down much stronger and larger opponents, he created a jutsu.

Forming a single handseal, Naruto muttered quietly. "Epinephrine Limit Break!" Epinephrine, or more commonly known as Adrenaline, a hormone produced during a fight-or-flight situation. This jutsu increased the production of Epinephrine in the adrenal glands for a momentary increase of stamina, strength and speed and in most cases chakra.

Immediately Naruto could feel his heart rate increasing. From a steady Bum, Bum, Bum came a faster BumBum, BumBum, BumBum. His air passages dilating allowing more oxygen to enter his lungs. He had to finish the battle fast or his body might collapse from too much Adrenaline.

Next, Naruto formed a tiger handseal "Kokuangyo no jutsu." (Bringer of Darkness) Jin could instantly feel the effects. The jinchuuriki was definitely losing control over his body.

With the increased chakra from the adrenaline rush, Naruto started delivering multiple high-ranked large area-of-effect jutsus. A large typhoon surrounded Jin cutting him in multiple places before strong jet of water blasted him off his feet. A wave of fire swept through the arena burning Jin intensely and a spear of lightning pierced through his gut. Naruto panted abit but to his dismay the jinchuuriki stood up.

The hole in his stomach began regenerating while the cuts and burns was disappearing. Although the red chakra was slowly decreasing as well. Seems like even Kyuubi knew the limits of a human body, especially one as untrained as Jin's. Naruto had to get even more serious now.

Putting on a pair of gloves made of steel mesh, Naruto settled into a Taijutsu stance – The Fire Stance of the Five Elements Style. It has been a long time since he needed to use _this _taijutsu style against someone.

"Hi no Kata – Shikami" (Fire Stance – four gods) Naruto dug his heels into the ground. Pushing off against it, and launched forward. While Jin was still recovering from the jutsu attack, Naruto struck first. "Byakko!"(White Tiger) Forming two fists, Naruto struck Jin in the chest with both hands. (Think Rokuougan of Rokushiki from One Piece)

The force of the attack blew away the air behind Jin, while the jinchuuriki himself spit out blood. But Naruto wasn't finished yet, this was but one of four attacks in his combo. "Seiryuu!" (Azure Dragon) Ducking beneath Jin, Naruto kicked him in the gut, in to the air. Reappearing above Jin, Naruto's axe kick smashed into his brother's back letting Jin fall to the ground in an explosion of dust. (Think Tsunade's Tsutenkyaku)

"This isn't over!" Naruto shouted, still in mid-air. Gripping his left fist with his right, He let his elbow fall towards Jin on the ground. "Genbu!" (Black Turtle) With a horrendous sound of flesh hitting flesh, Naruto's elbow dug into Jin's back with the force of a bulldozer. A slight shockwave swept the arena. (Think Alex Mercer's Elbow Airdrop from Prototype)

Just one more! Naruto gripped Jin's neck and brought him upright. "Suzaku." (Vermillion Bird) He merely said and thrust an open palm strike right where Jin's heart should be. Unlike Byakko, even Naruto's grip couldn't hold him in place as Jin flew away as if struck by a concentrated Daitoppa.

Jin could feel his ribs breaking, his conscious fading. Every muscle in his being was aching, especially his chest and his back. He could hear Kyuubi growling and shouting but it didn't matter anymore. He just wanted to rest...

At last, Jin's consciousness faded away and fell into blissful darkness. (He is unconscious, not dead.) Naruto could finally grip his knee and rest. The crowd was silent. In shock and awe. For a moment Naruto thought they would start booing about how he cheated. But imagine his surprise when he heard clapping.

He looked towards the source and found the entire audience clapping and cheering as hard as he could. The daimyos and other important people had a look that said 'I want that kid to work for me'. Minato looked furious while the Kazekage recoiled in surprise. That genin had defeated a jinchuuriki who was utilizing his demon's chakra, albeit only a fraction, but still... this was definitely food for thought.

Naruto looked at the crowd, cheering and clapping. For the first time in Naruto's life, he was being recognized for his accomplishments. Yet... there was only a sense of emptiness inside. Why? The recognition he had always wanted have been given willingly by everyone... yet why does he feel naught but indifference and apathy?

He knew why... Konoha was too late.

T.H.E. - H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Holy shit, finally finished. Phew! Just in time before the New Year too! If you had read my AN in the middle of the story, you would know how damned hard it was to write out the fight between Naruto and Jin. It was just impossible since Jin was so damn weak!

This chapter could have come out a lot faster if I wasn't sick. Yeah.. for four-five days. Had a fever that felt like I had a tumor in my brain. 42 degrees celsius. Miracle I didn't end up in the hospital.

Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the story. Love it, Hate it, Please Review and tell me what you think.

_Seriously, review._

_Well if you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And you parents won't recognize you when I am done. (Evil Laughter) _


	12. Grudge Rain

The Hero's Brother Chapter Ten

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or anything else I may have used.

Author's Notes : Here's Chapter Ten of The Hero's Brother! First of all, I want to thank all of you guys for your continuous support since Chapter One. It have been most enjoyable writing all these chapters and reading through everyone of your reviews was amazing. It has been a huge ego-boost for me as well. With that said, continue your great reviews, except for the flamers of course. Flamers can just _GET OUT_. If my story sucked so much, please don't read it and please don't spend the effort to tell me how shitty it is.

Second, I just realized what one of my pet peeves are – reading shitty stories that has a good idea. I would be reading halfway through a Super!Naruto fic but the author offers no explanation on how he got all his abilities and would just be BAM! Naruto now has godlike powers. So... one of my rants here.

Thirdly, I must caution you. For the next year or so, you will be seeing chapters becoming fewer and more far-between. As I said, school has started, and I really need to work harder this year. As I type, I am also eating dinner and reading a textbook at the same time. So you should know I am really Friggin' busy every single day! In fact, I can tell you my schedule for the next year.

Monday - School + Cramschool(which is like tuition in the US or something or do you Americans not have extra lessons after school?).

Tuesday – School + Cramschool

Wednesday – School + Extracurricular activities

Thursday – School + Cramschool

Friday – School + Extracurricular activities

Saturday – Self study, revision, and two hours or so of spare time.

Sunday – Self Study, revision, and two hours or so of spare time.

So you can see, I'm really that busy.

Third, I just realized what one of my pet peeves are – reading shitty stories that has a good idea. I would be reading halfway through a Super!Naruto fic but the author offers no explanation on how he got all his abilities and would just be BAM! Naruto now has godlike powers. So... one of my rants here.

Fourth, just fucking enjoy this chapter, people! (And let me know in the reviews!)

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Naruto returned to the contestant's stand while the crowd was still clapping and cheering. Minato was beyond furious. He would have Hiraishin to that impudent son of his and smack him upside down if not for the important foreign dignitaries watching. Minato was considerably lucky the audience had already forgotten about the Torture Seal on Naruto... for now.

Medics moved in to the arena and moved Jin out, to the hospital. Not wanting to let the already high excitement die down, Hayate announced the next match. Hoping for another impressive fight, the crowd went silent, on the edge of their seats. The Fire Daimyo, an underweight decrepit old man, watched with particular fascination.

"Sabaku no Gaara vs Sai. Will the two of you come down to the arena?" The Jinchuuriki reappeared in the middle with a swirl of sand while Sai shunshined with practiced ease.

The proctor, standing between them, eyes darting between them. Both were strong contenders. Gaara especially from what he had seen at the preliminaries, Sai as well, if Danzo taught him. The audience looked in obvious anticipation as Hayate raised his arm and chopped down. "Hajime!" and he jumped away.

Gaara started the fight with a wave of sand, headed towards Sai. The emotionless boy countered with a swipe from his brush. Over the months, Sai had developed a special jutsu, similar yet different from his Choju-giga.

A string of black ink emerged from his brush, forming a large crescent blade, cutting the wave of sand in half. Sai named this jutsu 'Inku Sakusei' (Ink creation) Jumping through the gap, Sai drew a cross shape in the air. The ink cross formed two crescent blades, soaring towards Gaara. A large amount of sand flew from the ground to defend the Jinchuuriki which the cross'd blades barely grazed it.

Sai narrowed his eyes before jumping back, changing his strategy. Even more sand floated out of the ground, forming a hand and flew towards Sai. With a speed unmatched, a large talon was drawn on his scroll. It materialized and clashed with the sand hand. Both struggling for dominancy.

While Gaara was still slightly distracted from the battle of hand/talon, Sai quickly drew a whole dragon within a second and pumped a large amount of chakra into it. From the drawing, came a colossal dragon, easily towering over the arena, though not even half the size of a boss summon.

A simultaneous gasp was heard throughout the stadium. Snarling and growling, the ink dragon looked almost exactly like an actual dragon, except in black and white. Gaara widened his eyes exhilaration 'Killing him would make feel ALIVE!' "DIE! MOTHER WANTS YOUR BLOOD!" He shouted with a deranged proclamation.

As the dragon descended upon Gaara, a sudden torrent of sand blasted outwards from the stadium's ground. Immediately the sand wrapped around the dragon. The giant reptile struggled to get out of the vice grip of the sand. Sai saw Gaara in deep concentration, his hands doing elaborate motions as two, three more burst of sand came from the ground.

What the sand wielding Jinchuuriki did not know was that the dragon was merely a decoy. Albeit a decoy that took up more than half of his chakra. Sai noticed no sand was protecting Gaara, all of it left to combat the giant dragon.

'Inku Sakusei' A large ink blade was created from the tip of his brush. Sai sped towards Gaara while thinking 'You're Mine!' Sai stopped behind the Jinchuuriki and swung the ink blade with all his might, only to hear a loud 'Clang!' as if he hit metal. Gaara turned his head and saw Sai behind him. Cracks appeared on Gaara's back. Sai widened his eyes.

The sand user clenched one fist and the sand wrapped around the dragon crushed it, leaving ink with dissipated chakra. The sand left the pile of ink and flew towards Sai. Everybody was thinking 'What just happened?' The second part of Gaara's perfect defense was his sand armor. A layer of rock hard sand covered the entirety of Gaara's body, protecting him from any attack that managed to get past his wall of sand.

For the first time in Sai's life he cursed out loud. "Fuck!" The sand surrounded him, and wrapped itself around Sai. 'Kuso!' The Ink user thought as he struggled against his constraints. Gaara licked his lips before clenching his fist once more. A scream resounded throughout the stadium as the sand crushed Sai. A dark liquid dripping down the cocoon of sand.

Gaara laughed manically before noticing the dark liquid was black. An ink lion bit Gaara's torso from behind and shook him around before a sand spike pierced the lion and it dissolved into ink. Sai stood at the other side, panting heavily. 'If I hadn't substituted with an ink clone I hid beforehand, I might really have died.'

The Jinchuuriki growled, a mass of sand rose up aggressively. Sai gulped, he was seriously low on chakra. Two words from Gaara was able to send Sai running. "Sabaku Kyuu!" A large amount of sand flew swiftly towards him. Sai performed several dangerous gymnastics maneuvers to avoid the deadly wave of sand.

What Gaara did not notice was the pair of scrolls Sai dropped on the floor. With the root shinobi avoiding the sand while moving back at the same time, Gaara stepped up his game with a larger avalanche of sand "I WANT YOUR BLOOD!" The Jinchuuriki screamed with a manic look in his eyes.

Gaara walked menacingly towards Sai who was now running up the walls to evade the sand. Sai noticed something and smirked. Gaara was now right between the set of scrolls he left on the ground. With a single handseal and a muttered "Kai!", the two scrolls rolled opened and a drawing of a dragon could be seen in them.

"Choju-Giga!" Sai yelled and all of a sudden two ink dragons, tiny compared to the first one, burst out of the scroll, wrapping itself around Gaara. "What the!" Even the stoic Jinchuuriki shouted in surprise. Sai panted heavily. He dropped down and landed on his feet as the sand chasing him withdrew. He was extremely close to just fainting right there and then from Chakra Depletion.

Gaara's dilated pupil flew from one end to another before laughing insanely. "I...I...I WANT TO KILL YOU EVEN MORE NOW! HAHAHAHA!" The layer of sand armor grew foot long spikes piercing the constricting dragons. Another large mass of sand flew towards Sai, Gaara now looking even more crazed. Sai widened his eyes in panic. "I giv-" But before he could do anything, a large sand spike ran through him. The spike formed a burly set of tendrils lifting Sai's body; His blood gushing from his wound – three quarters of his torso.

Now, the blood was red. The tendril swung his corpse around for a short while before tossing it across the field. Gaara, for an odd reason, had no interest at all. "That was boring. Mother was right, I should not take my kills for granted or I would lose them." His total psychopath killer persona immediately disappeared.

The audience gasped loudly at the bloody corpse while some of the children cried. The Kazekage pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, Hokage-dono, I'm sorry about my son's behaviour. I will take full responsibility for your village's genin's death." Minato merely waved him off. "Don't worry about it. That was some no-name genin anyways, nobody important."

The Kazekage raised an eyebrow at the blatant irresponsibility of the Hokage, but shrugged it off, better for him, right?

Gaara returned to the competitor's stand, disappointed. 'That Sai did was not able to satisfy mother's bloodlust. Perhaps the first one... Naruto? Yes, he will be enough to feed mother!' The Jinchuuriki turned and glared at Naruto with a deranged look. The blonde merely stared back in return.

'Sai...' Naruto bitterly though. 'One of the people I could talk to without having to muse about mutilation. He wasn't a friend in anyway, but still it was an insult to me by killing Sai, my teammate.' Before the tension could get any thicker between them, the proctor signaled for a clean up before announcing the next match.

A few civilian cleaners went down to clear the bloody corpse and the blood surrounding it with a disgusted look on their face.

The proctor seeing the arena clean of the blood, announced the next match "Third round of the chuunin exam, Aburame Shino against Sabaku no Kankuro, please come down to the arena." Shino jumped down and the suna nin did the same. The proctor glanced at the two before swiping his hand downwards "Hajime!"

Kankuro started the match, sprinting towards Shino, fist cocked back. The Aburame settled into a stance and got ready for the puppeteer. A punch flew towards the Konoha shinobi while Shino barely dodged it. Kankuro did not stop there, however, and continued a flow of attacks.

He threw a long right hook, but Shino already saw it coming and side-stepped the attack. _'An opening!' _The Aburame took advantage of the puppeteer's lack of balance and sent a hard jab towards him. Just as the fist was about to his Kankuro's ribs, Shino sensed something was wrong and jumped back.

Two wooden hands was at the place Shino was before. The Aburame traced it back to its source and saw that it came form the bandaged bundle on his opponent's back. Neither said a word as they glared into each other's eye. _'A trap. My enemy is more strategic than I thought.' _Both of them decided at the same time that taijutsu phase was over, now they was going to start being serious.

A mass of kikaichu wrapped themselves around Shino hands and acted like weapons while Kankuro released _Karasu_. Neither wasted any time, already knowing each other's abilities. The Suna shinobi smirked _'He probably thinks he knows everything about Karasu. This Aburame will be gravely mistaken when he pays for his mistake.' _

Likewise Shino scanned his opponent's puppet _'From what I have seen in the preliminaries, my opponent uses a puppet for his fight. And from my research of Kugutsu users, they are generally weak at close range and almost entirely rely on their puppet. Finding the operation mechanics of a shinobi's puppet was quite the challenge but from what I've learned, the joints are the weakness of the puppet.' _Neither moved, both waiting for the other to attack first and make a mistake.

_'So there are two choices, either I engage the puppet user in melee combat while using my kikaichu to absorb all his chakra. Or I take out his puppet and finish the helpless puppeteer. Calculating percentage of victory... the latter has a higher chance of success.' _Shino started their second bout, running forward while sending a large swarm of his bugs to the puppet.

Kankuro narrowed his eyes and smirked _'I knew he was going to try that.' _A twitch of his index finger and a secret compartment on Karasu's left arm opened, launching several kunais at the swarm. It passed through them ineffectively but when it reached the middle of the swarm, the explosion notes tied to the kunai exploded.

Not even taking a look at the massive loss he just suffered, Shino continued towards Karasu the kikaichu cloaking his arms buzzing angrily at the loss of their comrades. The Aburame swung his right arm at the puppet, as if throwing a baseball, and launched an orb of kikaichu flying towards the wooden contraption.

"Don't underestimate me, Konoha nin!" Kankuro shouted and tugged on the chakra strings, making _Karasu_ dodge the ball of kikaichu and fly at Shino. "I got you now, Aburame!" Right before Kankuro released the hidden weapon on _Karasu_, he noticed a black ball heading towards him. _'Shit, he wasn't aiming at Karasu, but aiming at me!' _

The Suna shinobi jumped to the right but noticed the black ball followed him. _'It's a homing projectile huh? Makes sense since those are living insects.' _Kankuro jumped away again as the kikaichu continued following him. But he noticed Shino running after his now stationary _Karasu_.

Shino thrust his hand towards the puppet, trying to get his kikaichu to destroy the puppet. Just as his hand was about to reach the wooden puppet, it quickly moved away. The Aburame glanced at Kankuro who moved his puppet away just in time. "That was close." He commented before jumping away again, dodging the ball of insects.

"Ahh, I'm sick of this." Kankuro said as he pulled back another finger, _Karasu _launching a few exploding kunai at the ball of kikaichu chasing him which exploded and killed the mass of kikaichu. Again concentrating on _Karasu_ and it flew towards Shino, hidden blades flying out of the mechanism.

Shino bent backwards, dodging one and used his hand to perform a handstand before jumping off the ground and avoiding the rest of the blade. Purple liquid fell from the blade and burned the grass, indicating the poisonous nature of the puppet's weapon.

A bladed arm came towards Shino, the Aburame barely blocking it with a kunai. _'Chance!'_ However before Shino could spread his kikai bugs on _Karasu,_ a hidden senbon launcher sent a few dozen poison coated needles at Shino, forcing him to back off.

Meanwhile people in the audience started complaining about the match's dullness. One of the spectators yawned "This match is so boring. They should bring back the two other guys. They were entertaining at least."

His friend next to him smirked "Ryuuchi, seems like you don't know much about ninjas." Ryuuchi snorted "And you are so knowledgeable, Masao?" His friend gave an arrogant laugh "Seems like I will have to educate you. You see, not all shinobi are as flashy as the first two. There are also silent fighters like those two down there. You think they are boring? The truth is, this might be one of the most exciting match from someone else's point of view." Ryuuchi next to him gave an incredulous look "What?"

"They aren't engaging in a battle of fists, but a battle of mind. I have only a brief understanding of shinobi but from what I can see, the Suna nin is using a puppet to fight. And it is commonly known that a puppet user is not strong physically and relies on his poison wielding puppet to fight." He stroked his chin like an old man, smiling smugly.

Ryuuchi giggled "What's poison going to do to a fast ninja?" Masao smiled "That's why these puppets are filled with hidden weapons and traps. If a puppeteer's opponent are caught off guard and poisoned, they are done for."

Ryuuchi nodded "I see, then our village's shinobi down there can't win?" His friend shook his head "That's not true. The Aburame are long range fighters as well. From what I can see, our guy can either choose to attack head on or from afar. Either way, if he gets his bugs on the puppeteer, the match's over."

Masao nodded as he smiled smugly before widening his eyes and pointed to the match "Look!" A mass of bugs erupted from the ground and attached themselves to Karasu.

Kankuro muttered a curse, trying to pull Karasu back, at the same time launching several exploding kunai at the swarm. Explosions took out half of the mass of kikiachu, but the other half persisted, eating up the remaining chakra strings connected to the puppet.

Forced to abandon Karasu, Kankuro grimaced as the thought of losing flashed across his mind. The Kikaichu now finished with their meal, returned to Shino, buzzing menacingly around the Aburame.

"Your puppet has been brought down. Surrender now, or face inevitable defeat." Shino monotonously offered, settling into a loose taijutsu stance. Kankuro looked down for a moment, before lifting his head and smirking. "It would do you good to learn not to underestimate a Suna Shinobi until you've killed him." He spoke before pulling out two scrolls from behind.

Unfurling both scrolls, he shouted "I still have an ace up my sleeves, or rather two of them!" A plume of smoke indicated the arrival of two new puppets. Resting his two hands on the puppets shoulders, he cockily announced.

The puppet on his left had a humanoid form, with a clawed left arm and was missing a right arm. It had a kanji for 'Left' on its chest. Its head was bald and had a glowing red left eye. Both feet were talons instead.

The puppet on his right was almost exactly identical to the on his left, however it had a clawed right arm and was missing a left arm while a kanji for 'Right' was on its chest.

Shino narrowed his eyes, his bugs buzzing became more agitated and excited. "So be it." The Aburame simply stated before sending two homing 'bug balls' at the puppeteer. Kankuro's smile faltered a little. _'Migi(Right) and Hidari(Left) are still incomplete. So they lack most of the hidden mechanisms Karasu had. But without all those hidden weapons weighing them down, they can be fast... real fast.' _

With a burst of speed, the two puppets flew towards Shino twice as fast as Karasu, passing the two kikaichu projectiles and completely ignoring them. Migi sent his right claw at Shino, forcing him to duck while Hidari went low and swiped at Shino's feet, making him jump backwards.

They did not stop there however, the two puppets carried on with their relentless attacks, forcing Shino back to the wall. Kankuro smirked _'I have you now!' _and the two puppets split up, Migi flying towards Shino's left, while Hidari flying towards Shino's right.

But just then, Kankuro realized his mistake. By making his two puppets fly in opposite directions, he had given Shino a great opportunity. He had left the middle unguarded! Shino realizing this, grabbed his rare chance and popped a soldier pill in his mouth.

His right feet pushed off the wall before he started sprinting towards Kankuro, boosted by the kick. Shino drew a kunai, wrapping his Kikaichu in around the blade and ran as fast as he could towards Kankuro, boosting his leg muscles with chakra, knowing he was being chased by the puppets.

It took Migi and Hidari a second to turn around and start chasing after Shino, and that second was all he needed to get an overwhelming head-start. But they were fast, even faster than the sprinting Aburame, and had almost caught up with Shino before something happened.

Shino thrust his kunai towards Kankuro, now only a few feet away from him. It would have stabbed him too, if not for him taking a step back, evading the blade by a few inches. Staring at the black blade of the kunai, he gave a sigh of relief before noticing something. The blade extended and landed on his face.

The kikaichu Shino had wrapped around his blade before now frantically leeched away Kankuro's chakra. Just as Kankuro's chakra was about to run out, he still had enough to send Migi against Shino, the large claw left 4 long gashes on his back. The poison seeped in to his wound. The match was over.

Both Kankuro and Shino collapsed at the same time. The proctor hastily announced a tie before ushering medic-nins to bring both to the medical bay. The audience gave a slothful applause, while the shinobi in the arena gave a scornful sneer at the audience's lack of appreciation.

Naruto nodded at the fight, thoroughly at Shikamaru, he could see him blanch in fright. That made sense though. Shikamaru was supposed to fight the winner between Kankuro and Shino. Now that they are both out of commission, Shikamaru was able to skip it and proceed on to the next round. Now, it will be him versus Sabaku no Gaara.

Shikamaru with his shadow jutsus and brilliant tactics against Gaara and his unstoppable sand. Strategies against a demon, however, would prove to be for naught.

Naruto noticed an ANBU shunshined down to the arena, whispering into the proctor's ears. Hayate looked at the him weirdly before nodding and the ANBU disappeared. The blonde was in for an amusing surprise however, when Hayate announced something.

"There has been a change in the tournament brackets. Due to the unanimous decision between the Hokage, the village council and the judges, Namikaze Naruto and Sabaku no Gaara's fight has been pushed up. Thus I hereby announce the next round. Namikaze Naruto versus Sabaku no Gaara."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, watching the scene with an amused expression while Gaara nearly split his face in half with his maniacal smile. The audience started murmuring in confusion as Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief before gulping fearfully as he realized he had to fight either Naruto or Gaara after their match.

The blonde gave a self-satisfied 'Hmph'. _'My _father_ wishes me to perish under the jinchuuriki? Then I will prove him wrong by conquering the demon vessel. How he managed to convince the council and the judges after being embarrassed by Jin, I do not know.' _

The two appeared in the arena, both standing calmly although a killing aura radiated from Gaara. The proctor looked at both of them and raised his hand before swiping it down quickly and yelling "Hajime!"

_'I have to finish this quickly'_ Naruto thought as he raced towards Gaara, closing half their distance in 10 seconds. Gaara's sand leisurely stream through his gourd, confident he would be able to defend against Naruto.

As the blonde ran towards Gaara, it looked as if he suddenly stopped and began to fall. _'Ikazuchi Raiden Kata (Form of Thunder and Lightning God) second mode, __**Shindensen!**__(Purple Lightning Flash) _After a year under Danzo's tutelage, he had managed to almost master the Five Elements Style, but he noticed he was best at two of the stances. Fire and Lightning. He mastered both the Fire and Lightning stance, proving to be an excellent combination. The move he used now was called Shindensen, aptly named as you would soon see.

Naruto started to fall, and the audience waited with baited breath, on the edge of their seats. But just as he was an inch from the ground, he suddenly disappeared and reappeared infront of Gaara in a split second. The way the technique worked was when Naruto started to fall, the forward speed of the fall due to gravity and using all your physical strength in your legs, the user would gain an incredible acceleration, achieving superhuman speed.

Now, he raised his fist at chest level and launched if towards Gaara's chest, his arm twisting while in midair. He struck Gaara's sand armor, sending him flying away. _'Hi no Kata, Kosen! (Tiger Drill)'_ It was a thrusting attack where you focused your body weight and force created from twisting your arm before you hit, thereby multiplying the force and wounding power of the thrust several times over.

The attack caught Gaara by surprise, and saw his armor crack in several places where the blonde struck. He landed safely in a sandy cushion before recovering from the impact. "Namikaze Naruto... I will RIP YOU APART!" the Jinchuuriki yelled, now no longer complacent and focused his sand unto Naruto.

Summoning his Tsurugi, Naruto readied into a stance. Just as a large sand tendril rushed towards him, he placed his left arm up and his right arm holding the sword across his left. Using his sword arm like a whip, he swung his right arm from his left, placing all his weight into the tip of his sword, increasing his destructive power far beyond his normal strength. _'Kagutsuchi no kata, Gurensen! (Form of the Fire God, Spinning Crimson Lotus)_

A single swipe from his tsurugi just demolished Gaara's tendril, blasting chunks of hard sand everywhere. Naruto fell forward, and again reappeared infront of Gaara. But this time, he was ready for him and just as Naruto was about to perform another Gurensen, the sand closed in around him ready to take him out.

The blonde however smirked _'Kaze Oboro Kata – Kazenui' (Form of the Wind Void – Wind Stitch)_ Rotating his body, Naruto slipped behind Gaara, dodging his sand attack and slipped into range. There was no time for a proper technique and Naruto just slashed Gaara's back, forming large scratch on his sand armor. Gaara turned around and almost caught Naruto before he performed another Kazenui and slipped out of the sand's range.

It had been awhile since he took the soldier pill during Kankuro and Shino's match, he should have replenished enough chakra for a ninjutsu battle. Forming several handseals, "Suiton : Uramiame!"(Grudge Rain) All of a sudden, dark storm clouds covered the once bright sky. Lightning flashed as rain began to fall.

Civilians began to wonder where the heavy rain came from, when it was sunny just a moment ago. Naruto gave a faint smile slightly weakened. The technique was a rather high level suiton jutsu that nearly took half of his chakra see how he didn't have a water affinity.

Gaara gave a psychopathic smirk, "Namikaze! A little water isn't going to do anything to me!" he yelled before multiple large sand arms shot through the air, towards Naruto. The blonde narrowed his eyes _'I guess, it will take a while for it to take effect...' _Naruto started dodging the sand arms, his sword sometimes deflecting those he could not evade.

The Jinchuriki suddenly started to notice something. This sand's movement was becoming... sluggish. Naruto no longer needed to even try to evade them. A sand arm approached the blonde before he struck it with an open palm, breaking it apart before watching it crumble into sand and... mud?

The sand nin growled as he suddenly realized his folly. He should have never allowed that damn Namikaze to pull off that suiton jutsu. The water had seeped into his sand, making it heavier, slowing it down and also more fragile.

Naruto smirked, and raised his arm. Electric danced around his hand.

"Now the fight truly begins."

-T.H.E – H.E.R.O.'S – B.R.O.T.H.E.R -

Hell yeah! Finally done! Again, I apologize for not posting this new chapter and taking so long to do it. I hope you enjoyed it. Oh and btw, the awesome techniques Naruto used in this chapter is not mine. If you guys have read the manga **Gamaran** before, you would know where I got it from. Gamaran is a samurai manga with lotsa blood and of course awesome fight scenes. Which is where I got the attacks from.

As always, Love it, Hate it, Review it. Your feedback really helps give me ideas and of course motivate me to wake up in the morning.

_Seriously, Review. _

_Well, If you don't, I know here you live, I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (Evil Laughter)_


	13. Invasion Part 1 Sanshouo no Naruto

The Hero's Brother Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or anything I may have used.

Author's notes : Hihihi! Once more, I am so sorry this took so long to update, as I've already said in the previous chapter, I am really busy. I won't try to ask for your forgiveness, so without further ado, enjoy the damn chapter!

T.H.E. H.E.R.O.'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Electricity danced around Naruto's hand, a cackling sound buried by the constant pattering of the rain. Naruto formed several handseals _'Raiton : Yoroi! (Lightning release : Armor)_ Almost instantly, Naruto wrapped himself in a layer of lightning chakra.

_'Ikazuchi Raiden Kata (Form of Thunder and Lightning God) second mode, Shindensen!(Purple Lightning Flash)' _The blonde leaned forward before reappearing infront of the now manic Gaara. However, the jinchuuriki knew he was coming and large amounts of sand converged upon him. But the sand was slow from the water, way too slow to catch Naruto.

_'Raigyaku Suihei' (Lightning oppresional Horizontal)'_ Naruto thought before performing a single backhand chop against Gaara. Whose sand armor lost its color and was now a runny mud slowly sliding off of the Jinchuuriki.

Gaara could still control the wet sand however, and the water imbued sand raised up groggily to try to stop Naruto's attack. The blonde's attack was hardly stopped by the sluggish mud and with the sharpness of a fine blade, he cut through the hastily raised mud shield and threatened to slice into Gaara's jugular before the ground before him exploded.

Caught unaware, Naruto was almost trapped by the sand Gaara had hid underground to keep dry. But due to the increased reaction speed Raiton : Yoroi gave, albeit not as fast as the Raikage, he was able to perform Kazenui(Wind Stitch) and slipped away from the aggressive sand.

Gaara gave a self satisfied smirk while Naruto looked at he ground apprehensively 'I should have known better than to think he wouldn't have any cards up his sleeve. Smart of him to hide the sand underground to avoid the rain...' The blonde smirked as well however 'But it's still a race against time. Soon the rainwater will seep into the ground and the sand will still get wet, the question is – If he can hold me off until that happens'

_'Raiton : Lightning Destruction!' _Naruto charged up a large amount of lightning chakra and forced them into the ground while directing the wave of chakra towards Gaara. Normally, it would have cut through the ground towards the target, but due to the rain, the lightning headed towards Gaara like electricity through a conductor.

Knowing the water's conductivity, Gaara created a platform under his feet and levitated the platform of sand and himself to safety. The sand Jinchuuriki glared at Naruto, daring him to do something. Gaara dared not attack Naruto himself, knowing that except his sand underground, other attacks would be useless.

Naruto merely looked at his options and smirked 'Too easy' "Raigen Raikochu!"(Lightning Illusion Flash Pillar) Naruto shouted while forming several handsigns. An electric light emanated from Naruto's body, forming an extremely bright light, blinding Gaara who was glaring at Naruto.

Gaara closed his eyes immediately and grabbed his eyes in pain, yelling in anger. The simple visual genjutsu was surprisingly useful against the Jinchuuriki.

Naruto formed several handseals and widened his mouth '_Raiton : Gian'_(False Darkness) and a spear of lightning flew towards Gaara. The mistake the sand jinchuuriki made was not expecting Naruto to come at him with long ranged attacks. Being away from the ground, the sand underground could not help him very much.

Gaara barely opened one eye, revealing it to be bloodshot and its iris was turning yellow while the pupil was morphing into a diamond. Naruto narrowed his eyes at that 'Shukaku...'

The spear of lightning continued through the air but was barely dodged by moving the sand platform to the right. However, the lightning spear was not meant to injure Gaara. It was meant for Naruto to close the distance between them instantly. _'Kaminari Kawarimi!'(Thunder Subsitution) _

The blonde appeared right beside Gaara in mid air, a fist pulled back._ 'Hi no Kata: Kosen Dangan!'_(Fire stance : Tiger Drill Bullet) Twisting his arm, Naruto launched a spiraling fist shaped air bullet towards Gaara. The air bullet found its mark, burying itself into the Jinchuuriki's gut, blasting him off the sand platform.

The crowd looked on with awe, all commending the blonde on creating a jutsu actually comparable to his Father's famed Hiraishin. Speaking of his father, the audience all of a sudden simultaneously glared at Minato who shrunk in his seat uneasily. While the Kazekage widened his eyes, gripping the handles of his chair so hard that it almost broke. 'Such talent...'

The floating sand flew to the ground attempting to form a cushion underneath Gaara to soften the impact but due to the water weighing it down, was too slow. The Jinchuuriki landed on the floor with a large splash and boom.

Naruto landed on his feet, panting. As he thought, Kosen Dangan still needed a bit of work for it to be efficient in battle. It took him twice, no thrice the effort to perform the ranged version of the tiger drill. And the results wasn't even close to what he had expected.

Gaara got up from the small crater, yellow colored chakra gathering in the injured spots of his body, already healing him up. The Jinchuuriki opened his eyelids, showing his now transformed eyes. The sclera was black, while the iris was a yellowish with a golden hue and the pupils were now diamond shaped with four black dots around it.

"Na..i...ze Na..to" Gaara's whispered. Sending humongous amounts of killer intent at Naruto he shouted "NAMIKAZE NARUTO! I WILL KILL YOU!" The sand hidden in the ground finally appeared in the form of a gigantic Tsunami wave headed towards Naruto.

The blonde looked in awe at the wave of sand in return "I'm getting pretty sick of the same old sand attacks. Time to break this up! Doton : Doryukatsu! (Earth Release : Earth Flow Divide)" Naruto stuck his two hands in the ground and pulled them apart, tearing the earth apart. The ground rumbled a bit before splitting in half, creating a large chasm.

The ground now split in two, separated the sand tsunami forming a large space in between, all for Naruto. The blonde gasped for air, shocked at the amount of chakra it took to perform his jutsu. Though he shouldn't have been surprised since earth element wasn't his affinity.

Popping another soldier pill in his mouth, he forced chakra in to his legs while performing Shidensen at the same time, doubling the normal acceleration. His Tsurugi appeared in his right hand in a poof of smoke.

The blonde closed in on Gaara, but he refused to let Naruto get close The Jinchuuriki sent the dry sand towards Naruto, intent on stopping him.

The blonde smirked 'Ikazuchi Raiden Kata : Third Mode! Narukami!'(Form of Thunder and Lightning God – Rumbling God) Again, he fell forward and using that momentum, he moved diagonally towards Gaara. And using the momentum while he fell sideways, he suddenly crossed his legs, creating an unbalanced stance.

The sudden change of direction and simultaneous instantaneous acceleration, Naruto switched from moving forward to moving sideways. Gaara who was confident of stopping Naruto widened his eyes when Naruto suddenly disappeared from his view.

That was because the human's eye had a 95 degree field of vision. Naruto who instantaneously moved to the side appeared to have suddenly disappeared from Gaara's point of view.

Naruto now on the right of Gaara, pushed chakra under his feet, causing a slight explosion of speed. He infused wind and fire chakra into the Tsurugi, bright white flame emerged from hilt, shrouding the sword in its immense heat. Gaara noticed Naruto swinging his sword, but it was too late.

A flash of white and silver, before a geyser of red filled Gaara's vision. Glancing downwards, he saw the torn stump of his now separated arm. Liquid hit his face. It was blood. Now Namikaze's blood, but... it was... his blood... **(1)**

Gaara screamed. He couldn't help it, the pain was too much. It hurt, more so than the Kosen Dangan before, it hurt more than anything else he had ever felt before. His legs stopped working and he fell on his knees. Attempting to cover up the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, only made it hurt more.

The crowd winced at the brutality while some of the weaker members of the audience looked away, slightly queasy. Naruto pointed the blade at Gaara, expecting a surrender but was not given one as Gaara continued screaming, ignoring the blade pointed at him.

Naruto turned away sealing his Tsurugi and deactivating his Raiton : Yoroi. He walked towards the proctor, "This match is over." Hayate nodded slightly while grimacing at the blood and gore. "Since Sabaku no Gaara is unable to continue-" Before he could finish however, he was interrupted by a scream. "NAMIKAZE N**ARUTO! How dare you! HOW DARE YOU!" **

Gaara stood up while yellow chakra now started infusing into the Jinchuuriki. His sand started fusing with his body. Sand now covered the left side of his body. The left side of his face was covered with sand with purple markings, forming a grotesque imitation of Shukaku. His teeth, now fangs, dribbled with drool.

Sand also covered his back now while a tail was formed as well. The tail started swinging wildly and his left Shukaku hand's fingers twitched with anticipation.

Minato looked at the grotesque miniature Shukaku with hesiation "We have to stop this match, before it gets too out of hand." He said out loud, not wanting Naruto to gain recognition for defeating two jinchuurikis in a row. The Kazekage frowned "Let them continue, you allowed Jin to continue even after Kyuubi's chakra leaked out right?"

"That was different... Fine, let them carry on then." Minato reluctantly agreed. Kazekage nodded in appreciation "Thank you, I am curious how Naruto-san will deal with fighting a second Jinchuuriki right after defeating Jin." The Yondaime was also slightly interested but was irked when the Kazekage referred to Naruto with an honorific, but not Jin despite him being obviously superior to Naruto.

Said blonde turned back to face a rapidly transforming Gaara. **"I Will KILL YOU. I WILL HAVE YOUR BLOOD, NAMIKAZE!" **His sand arm reached forward and stretched towards Naruto. The blonde jumped backwards, dodging while thinking to himself 'Another transformed Jinchuuriki.. damn, if this keeps it up, I'm going to have to call myself demon slayer...'

The rain was still raging however, and the newly formed sand limbs were slowly getting drenched. Meaning it would start to lose speed, fast. The Shukaku-ed Gaara noticed this as well before growling **"The rain is getting annoying..." **With that, he summoned up a large amount of sand before actually covering the outdoor arena with the sand, forming a large dome like structure.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in frustration and reactivated his Raiton : Yoroi. Unsealing his Tsurugi, he started to keep the sand arm at bay while deflecting the sand shurikens sent his way. The blonde could feel his stamina slipping away, he knew he couldn't keep up the dodging forever.

His chakra was leaving him as well, for the first time since Orochimaru, Naruto truly felt he was going to lose and die. No, Naruto shook his head and pulled his resolve together. 'I refuse, I utterly refuse to die here before I can achieve my ambition... before I am the strongest shinobi this world will ever see.'

With a determined resolve, a fire burned in his eyes for the first time in many years. "I refuse! I refuse to die! I refuse to be killed by you!" He shouted before forming several handseals. Boar, Dog , Bird , Monkey, Ram. He gathered a large amount of chakra "Kuchiyose no jutsu – Sanshouo, Ibuse!"

A large poof of smoke signaled the arrival of a summoned animal. This very action stunned everyone in the audience except for Shikamaru, the Nara was already used to unexpected surprises from Naruto.

The significance of such a thing shocked every shinobi to the core. Who hadn't heard of Sanshouo no Hanzo, who lived up to his name by summoning one of the strongest summon? Those who had heard Naruto say "Sanshouo" was astounded at such a possibility as a genin summoning the legendary animal, the Salmanaders.

The smoke dispersed, revealing a salamander indeed. The amphibian was a dark grey in color and was large enough for Naruto to stand comfortably on. The blonde then put on a respirator that covered the bottom half of his face. He muttered to the salamander below him, his voice now slightly distorted from the mask, "Ibuse, Poison."

The massive amphibian seemed to nod before exhaling a large mist of paralyzing poison. The greenish fog swept pass Gaara, but seemed to have no effect. Naruto narrowed his eyes 'I thought that would happen... because of the demonic chakra, the poison will take much longer to take effect.'

Gaara gave a gruff laugh at the apparent uselessness of the gas before stretching his arm towards Naruto again. The blonde using chakra, held on to Ibuse before muttering "Dig." The salamander immediately dug a hole in the ground and dived in, concealing itself while moving under the ground at the same time.

Gaara growled aggressively **"Don't hide, Namikaze! You can't run from me!" **He yelled out before sending sand into the hole. Gaara expected Naruto to resurface, but didn't think where.

The Jinchuuriki felt a slight rumbling before being consumed by Ibuse who resurfaced underneath the miniature Shukaku. A large roar could be heard from inside Ibuse and though the Salamander was wincing in pain repeatedly from Gaara's attacks inside it, it held on, confident its poison would kill whatever it had consumed.

Inside Ibuse, Gaara was yelling in pain now. The liquified poison gas was more concentrated than the gaseous version and was effecting the jinchuuriki much more. Soon, he couldn't stand slightly corrosive poison anymore. Gaara formed a single handseal and muttered "Tanuki Neiri no jutsu(Feigning sleep technique)"

It became silent for a moment in the arena, before Ibuse growled in pain and dismissed itself. The miniature Shukaku appeared in its place, covered in liquid poison, but something seemed different. _**"ROAR!" **_Naruto settled into a stance, that didn't sound good...

The now possessed Gaara began to gather sand, and more sand, and even more sand. The accumulated sand started to fuse with Gaara's body, and slowly but surely, the sand demon rose to its original size. Minato widened his eyes, 'This is bad...' "Kazekage, immediately demand your son to stop!"

The Kazekage saw Gaara's released form and chuckled, before becoming a full blown laughter. "Finally, the boy is useful for something!" Minato narrowed his eyes "What are you implying, Kazekage..."

The user of the Gold Dust abandoned his Kage robes and hat, revealing the auburn haired Kazekage donned in full battle uniform. "I'm implying, this is the end of Konoha!" At that, the ground burst open and Minato flashed back. Two figures appeared from under the ground.

One was extremely pale-skinned with waist length black hair. He had amber eyes with slitted pupils and purple markings around his eyes. He wore plain grey garbs with black pants and a thick purple rope belt tied in a large knot behind his back and blue tomoe-shaped earrings.

The other was an old man with a triangular beard and a mustache with angular corners. He had a big red nose and thick rectangular-shaped eyebrows. The top of his head is completely bald, although, he has some white hair at the back and sides of his head. He wore a green and yellow coat with a red collar.

Minato widened his eyes in shock while taking out several Hiraishin Kunais at the same time. He would need them to take on three Kage-level shinobi after all - The Yondaime Kazekage, The Snake Sannin Orochimaru, and the Sandaime Tsuchikage Onoki.

T.H.E. H.E.R.O.'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R (More on this epic fight, in the next chapter teehee)

At the same time, the arena was shocked by a four loud explosions. The hidden shinobi took the signal and casted a large effect sleeping genjutsu in the arena. Every chunin and above shinobi dispelled the genjutsu as did most of the genin, while the all of the civilians lay asleep, unaware of the current chaos and pandemonium around them.

Naruto glanced at where the explosions came from and saw a large plume of smoke at the northern gate, he looked around and saw the same for the other three gates. He then noticed the disguised enemy shinobi abandoning their disguises, revealing shinobi from Otogakure, Tsuchigakure as well as Sunagakure.

He didn't panic of course, since Danzo-sensei had already told him this would happen. He started to head towards ROOT Headquarters to search for Danzo when a large arm slammed into the ground. Naruto peered at the gigantic sand Tanuki in front of him it would seem that the demon would not let him go easily. Not to imitate Shikamaru but, how troublesome...

T.H.E. H.E.R.O.'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

(1) I know the heated blade would cauterize the wound, and there wouldn't be as much blood, but I wanted to show how my Gaara would react to a sliced off arm. And by the way, I don't hate Sai or Gaara, I killed Sai off because he was getting pretty useless by this point of the story and I had Naruto slice Gaara's arm off because... well it was interesting, wasn't it?

End. Sorry this chapter was so short, 3 thousand words only, but I wanted to deliver as fast as I can.

Anyways... how did you like this chapter?

Any of you expected the invasion already?

What do you think of the epic 3 vs 1 battle between Minato and three Kages next chapter?

If you liked this story and this chapter please review!

So tell me guys, do you prefer a longer chapter but would take longer to write, or a shorter chapter that would take shorter to write?

I really hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter, love it hate it, please review and tell me what you think!

_Seriously, review._

_Well, if you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (evil laughter) _


	14. Invasion Part 2 The Kages Battle

The Hero's Brother Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or anything else I may have used.

Author's Notes : Sorry, sorry, I sincerely apologize for the amount of time I took to post this chapter. As most of you may know, I am a student, and as a student I have tons of responsibilities. The exam period has just ended, and I had to catch up with many projects that had a very very close deadline. I have nine freaking subjects at school, and it's just driving me insane with the workload. I am so glad so many of you guys have waited so patiently for this chapter and before you guys start throwing internet rocks at me, without further ado, Enjoy!

T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

"**You are not going anywhere, human!" **The demonic giant sand tanuki yelled out, looking at the tiny human who had dared injured his vessel to such an extent. Naruto glanced at the bijuu with slight apprehension. Taking on the near crazed, youki infused Gaara was one thing, but facing the actual thing? This might give him a tad of a challenge. Naruto smirked, he liked challenges.

However, his chakra reserves was dangerously low, and another soldier pill was the last he could take without endangering his body. Naruto checked his tools pouch, it was still full. One perk about being the leader of ROOT, was that he had access to equipment of the highest quality.

The slight sound of wind parting was the first thing to warn him of an oncoming attack. The angered shout of a bijuu was the next. **"I will enjoy killing you, human!" **Another sand arm flew towards the ground, more specifically, towards Naruto.

Infusing chakra towards his calf muscles, quadriceps and hamstrings, he leaped away from the point of collision before being blown away in mid air by the force of the attack. Shukaku's gigantic fist landed on the ground, a tremor coursing throughout the ground, causing a minor earthquake.

The attack did not cease, Shukaku swept his hand towards Naruto. The blonde widened his eyes as he recovered from the force of the previous attack which left him slightly winded. Unsealing his tsurugi in a flash, he infused wind and fire chakra into the sword. Yet again, a scorching white flame enveloped the blade.

Naruto swung his sword, a wave of searing white hot flames tearing into the offending appendage. The sand hand was cut through like a hot knife through butter. The sliced off hand on the ground, and without the youki, the limb dispersed into a pile of sand. The stump of Shukaku's arm passed by Naruto, but the blonde wasn't one to miss an opportunity like this.

Jumping on the hand, he raced up the arm. Naruto reached into his pouch picked out four exploding kunais. He threw them towards the other arm before forming a single handseal, 'Kunai Kage Bunshin no jutsu!' (Mass kunai shadow clone). The original four exploding kunais quickly multiplied into a few dozen. Each one accurately landing on the sand limb.

'3..2..1!' A series of explosions simultaneously rocked the entire arena, as dozens of exploding tags went off at the same time. Shukaku yelled in frustration as the dozens of explosions blew off his entire right arm, while the tiny human was still running up his left.

Actually, the Kunai Kage Bunshin was only able to clone a regular kunai, but not the exploding tag wrapped around it. But Naruto was able to tweak the jutsu, realizing that with the correct chakra flow, one was able to even clone the exploding tag. But only a ninja who is sufficiently skilled with fuuinjutsu and is actually able to draw an exploding tag's seal blindfolded, would be able to do what he had done.

However, a small handicap like a lost arm did not matter to the semi-bijuu. It merely directed his youki into his remaining arm Naruto was running up and sent sand spikes trying to pierce him.

The blonde carefully evaded all the sand spikes, which was quite difficult considering the distractions all around him : Sounds of battle occurring all around the arena where explosions were not at all rare. He only had enough chakra for one more jutsu and he would need that soldier pill after that.

Shukaku seeing his spikes not working, finally had enough of the tiny human running up his arm and inhaled a massive amount of air. Naruto widened his eyes as he saw that, knowing exactly what would come next. **"Futon : Renkudan!" **Shukaku yelled as he shot out a highly compressed all of air from its mouth.

The expelled ball of air sped towards Naruto threatening to end his life. Once again, Naruto infused chakra into his leg muscles, and jumped up to avoid the menacing air bullet, hoping for the best. The Renkudan continued its path and smashed into Shukaku's arm, tearing it off at its elbow.

Naruto smirked, that took out another complication he would have had to face. Shukaku growled in frustration at losing tet another one of its limbs. Though the confidence within Naruto soon vanished as he realized he was in midair without any support and hundreds of feet above ground.

"Oh shit..." Naruto thought as he finally started to descend back to earth due to gravity's merciless pull. The blonde looked down fearfully as he started to think of any way to get out of the situation he was in right now. That was when he saw it, his perfect vision granting him a sight more than welcome.

T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Shikamaru was fighting his own battles while Naruto was fighting the giant Tanuki thingy. At first he tried to pretend he had already been killed by an enemy by laying on his back, not moving. But things got a little too troublesome when enemies started pouring in from the entrances, and the lazy genius decided that to play dead would be more troublesome than to actually fight for his village.

So far he had already taken out two of the enemy genin and was barely able to surprise an enemy chuunin with his Kage Yaiba. He was about to escape the battle inside the arena and get to his clan compound when a series of explosions went off.

Shikamaru squinted his eyes and saw a blonde guy running up the Tanuki's arm while said Tanuki was roaring in anger. Quickly realizing that blonde guy was actually Naruto, he gave a nervous laugh "Only that troublesome blonde would be daring enough to take on an overgrown Tanuki by himself."

Then he saw the Tanuki spit out a ball of compressed air at Naruto and was glad to see the blonde jump out of harm's way, only to begin falling down. The Nara could only give his trademark "Mendokuse..." before gathering 75percent of his chakra and forming several handseals.

Shikamaru looked up at the falling blonde and yelled out "Kage Kami no Te!"(Shadow God's Hand)

T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Naruto looked down and saw a sight more than welcome. Two gigantic black hands erupting from the ground. 'Shikamaru! That lazy bastard is actually going to save my life...' Though secretly, Naruto was actually genuinely happy. He was happy that he had a teammate that was willing to save his life despite being in danger himself. He was happy that maybe, just maybe, Naruto had finally found a friend?

The first black appendage caught Naruto, providing a soft landing to ease the impact. The second enormous hand reached past Naruto to grip Shukaku's head. The blonde could see what the Nara was trying to do and not one to disappoint, he popped the final soldier pill and swallowed, immediately feeling the previously lost chakra replenishing within seconds.

The black hand suddenly dragged Shukaku's upper body down, making it lose it's balance. Naruto formed a very familiar handseal and created two kage bunshin. 'Here is my chance, my final attack comes now!' (Tell me if you had seen this coming!)

The three of them formed handseals simultaneously.

The first kage bunshin finished and yelled **"Katon : Hiryuu Entei!" **

The second kage bunshin finished and yelled **"Raiton : Rairyu Kaminarukou!" **

The original Naruto finished and yelled **"Fuuton : Fuuryu Kaze Ou!" **

At once, three massive dragons, made out of fire, wind and lightning separately, appeared. Each of them stared at Shukaku threateningly, fire scorching, lightning cackling, wind slicing. The large amount of chakra and light pulled everyone's attention to the three elemental dragons, stopping their fighting for just that moment.

The three dragons flew into each other, combining, to create a chaotic storm of flames strengthened by wind and bolts of lightning clashing with each other. The S-ranked annihilation jutsu flew towards Shukaku who instinctively shielded itself and its host, a legendary bijuu fearing this... monstrous technique.

The firestorm crashed into Shukaku, instantly destroying what defenses it had. The lightning penetrated the youki filled sand Tanuki, tearing through its body like nothing was there. Even Gaara who was sleeping on the Tanuki's forehead woke up immediately from the intense heat.

Fire spiraled around the bijuu, covering its entirety as blades of wind cut it apart while bolts of lightning destroyed what remained. Everyone stared at the technique, awed and amazed and fearful of the terrifying jutsu, even more fearful of the one who unleashed it.

For that one moment, everyone in the arena stopped their battles and fights to stare at the technique utterly destroying the released bijuu, before continuing their battles.

It took a while for the fire to settle down and whatever smoke and dust to clear out. All that remained of the tanuki was a large pile of burnt sand and glass. And amongst all that, was a heavily burned, disfigured red haired boy who was still alive, albeit in an extremely precarious situation.

Naruto grinned as pride, relieve and exhaustion filled his tired body. The blonde almost collapsed on the shadow hand as it slowly lowered itself to the ground. The Shadow Hand sunk back into the ground as Shikamaru released the technique opting to take help Naruto out of the battle filled arena.

T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

(And now for the fight you have all been waiting for...)

Before Naruto started fighting Shukaku, another battle was occurring somewhere else, an epic clash between the only surviving SS-ranked Shinobi against three Kage-level shinobi.

Namikaze Minato stared down his three opponents, sizing up his enemies, trying to remember what info he had on them. The first and most noticeable threat was Onoki, the Sandaime Tsuchikage of Iwagakure. Known as "Onoki of Both Scales", he was a proud and extremely powerful man with the ability to use the feared Dust Release.

Minato could still remember when he last faced the aged Kage, during the Third Shinobi War. Their fight wasn't able to end due to a retreat signal being called for Konoha's shinobis, but he remembered it being a close fight, though Minato was definitely winning.

His second enemy was the Yondaime Kazekage of Sunagakure. A powerful enemy indeed, with the kekkei genkai, Magnetic Release. From what he had seen War while fighting alongside Sunagakure, the Kazekage was able to manipulate Sakin, Gold Sand. It was rather terrifying to see a wave of gold sand destroying an enemy camp, and crushing any survivors.

His third enemy was the one he was most familiar. Orochimaru of the sannin, a genius who was said to be on par with himself. A former Jounin who defected after his horrendous experiments which killed many innocent victims was discovered. An extraordinarily powerful shinobi, he is a master of ninjutsu and extremely adept at everything else.

Orochimaru laughed "Namikaze Minato... after all these years, I finally get to kill you for stealing what was mine!" The snake sannin pulled out his kusanagi from his mouth, the two others standing beside him sending weird looks. "Faced with three kage-level shinobi, not so arrogant now, Namikaze?"

Onoki scoffed "I don't care whatever grudge you two have, I am here only for the destruction of Konohagakure and to do that, you must die!" The Tsuchikage settled into a loose stance. The Kazekage glared at Minato. "Namikaze, I warned you that this would happen... your arrogance was what forced me to invade your village. Now, prepare to suffer for your mistake!"

Minato gripped his Hiraishin Kunais tighter, "Doesn't matter how many of you there are, I will still cut all of you down. Weaklings need to band together afterall, to even attempt to challenge a powerful shinobi." The three kages glared at Minato, not believing that he could even now be so arrogant.

Orochimaru growled "Those arrogant words will be what leads to your downfall!" The Kazekage roared in frustration "Enough talking! It's time to end this. Sakin!" Sand of Gold erupted from the ground infront of the trio, flying towards Minato. The Yondaime Hokage smirked "Too slow!" and threw a hiraishin kunai away while flashing to where it landed, dodging the wave of sand.

However, Orochimaru rushed in next, sword poised to stab Minato. The blonde's extreme reaction speed saved him, and he managed to dodge the stab to launch a rasengan at Orochimaru's chest. "Too easy!" He yelled as the rasengan ball drove into the snake sannin's torso, tearing it apart. Only for Orochimaru to melt into mud.

The snake sannin attacked from behind, "Seneijashu!" he yelled out, sending a dozen small snakes towards Minato's back, from his sleeves. The snakes almost reached the blonde before he flashed away again. "You are going to have to try harder to even touch me!" Minato mocked.

"Sabaku Kyu..." The Kazekage whispered as Minato noticed a large amount of gold sand starting to envelop him. 'This is bad...' He thought as he jumped out of the sand's grasp... only to be punched in the back sending him flying towards the ground. Onoki was floating in the air with his fist covered in rock, smirking.

Minato was barely able to recover from the attack before landing on his feet. He was about to counter attack before being bombarded with jutsus from the Kazekage and Orochimaru. The Snake sannin sent a "Katon : Goryuka no jutsu" while the Kazekage sent a "Futon : Atsugai". The two fire and wind jutsu combined together to create a blast of white hot flames.

The blonde managed to dodge the attack by flashing away again. "Jinton : Genkai Hakuri no jutsu"(Atomic Dismantling) A cube with a sphere in the middle rapidly expanded, trapping Minato within its confines. The Hokage tried to breakfree of the structure but to no avail. The sphere exploded with a tremendous amount of force with Minato still inside.

Only to reveal.. nothing as Minato flashed behind Onoki, to send a Rasengan towards the old man's back. But he was interrupted by a wave of golden sand. Minato was forced to use his rasengan to deflect the golden sand before flashing away.

The Hokage wiped off a bead of sweat 'Facing these three is harded than I thought. I would have succeded in landing my attacks if not for the interruptions of the other two. And they are not giving me anytime to rest either!' He thought as he leaped back to avoid several snakes sent his way by Orochimaru.

'Not to mention my back is killing me! That punch from the old man was really powerful.' Minato winced as the bruise on his back ached. Onoki frowned "This is taking too long. Doton : Ganban Kyu"(Bedrock Coffin) Three slabs of rock rose around Minato and tried to cursh him only for Minato to use a Rasengan to blow apart one of the slabs to escape.

'I hope they don't know that using the Hiraishin actually takes alot out of me, and I can only use it at a maximum of a dozen times including other jutsus.' Minato thought as he ran from the pursuing gold sand. Orochimaru emerged from the ground in front of him sending several large snakes at him while slashing with Kusanagi.

It took Minato all he had to avoid the poisonous snakes and deadly sword and was able to send a kick at Orochimaru through an opening. But to his surprise, it wasn't a clone. Orochimaru smirked and grabbed Minato's leg, disabling his movement. "Now!"

This signaled both Onoki and the Kazekage to send their strongest attacks at Minato. "Sakin!" Kazekage yelled, sending a wave of golden sand at Minato. "Doton : Doryu Dango!" The Tsuchikage yelled, lifting up a gigantic lump of earth easily with one hand while the the other formed a half Tora seal. He spewed fire chakra into the lump of earth, setting it on fire.

Minato glanced back and gulped "That's not good..." before turning back and gripped Orochimaru's hand, trying to peel it off. The Snake Sannin was unrelenting and even tightened his grip. The blonde took out a kunai and tried stabbing him, but was unsuccessful as Orochimaru covered his arm in chakra, giving it a steel-like hardness.

Onoki threw the massive rock at him while the gold sand flew towards Minato. Seeing no other choice, he formed another rasengan and tried to smash it into Orochimaru's arm only to be stopped by his tounge, wrapped around Minato's wrist. But he could form another one and he hit Orochimaru's left arm right in the elbow, blowing it off and loosening his grip.

Minato flashed away instantly leaving Orochimaru alone to face the two attacks. The Snake Sannin was able to escape, but barely unscathed. Chunks of rock smashed into him while being blown away from the force of the impact.

Orochimaru hissed angrily before smirking. Snakes came out of his elbow and regenerating another new limb. Onoki turned to Orochimaru "Can't you hold him properly, snake!" Orochimaru sneered at him "Maybe if you had been faster with your attack, he would be dead by now!" The Kazekage tired of their argument decided to end it "Both of you shut up and focus your anger onto him."

They all turned towards Minato looked at Orochimaru and smirked. Instantly, he disappeared and reappeared in a yellow flash next to the Snake Sannin, before blowing him away with a rasengan. Orochimaru landed in a heap, clutching his wounded side, "How! When did you manage to apply one of your seals on me?"

Minato flashed away again "Hmph, remember when I kicked you? That was when I marked you. Now, I can teleport next to you anytime I want." Orochimaru immediately lost his 'in pain' face and laughed. "You idiot, telling me that. If you marked me, I can just do this, right?" At first, nothing happened, before Orochimaru unhinged his jaw and opened up his mouth.

Black hair came out of his mouth, then an entire body, leaving the shed skin with the Hiraishin mark. Orochimaru 'shed his skin' to get rid of the Hiraishin seal. Minato grimaced "That was gross." The snake sannin smirked "Thank you. Now we know not to get physically touched by you."

Onoki scoffed "Easier said then done, snake. Namikaze is fast, with or without his Hiraishin." The Kazekage who had been in concentration smirked. The ground around Minato rumbled before the ground around him exploded and large amount of golden sand flew out, instantly encasing Minato within.

Quickly, he willed the sand to crush Minato, but to no avail as he had already teleported out, next to the shedded skin Orochimaru was still standing next to. "I will get rid of you first, Rasengan!" He yelled as he tried to drive the rotating ball towards Orochimaru.

Again, he was interrupted as a Dragon made of rock flew towards him. "Doton : Dosekiryu (Earth and Stone Dragon)" Onoki muttered as he sent it flying towards Minato, knowing he would try to attack Orochimaru again.

The attack was too quick for Minato to avoid and the dragon swallowed the blonde. Only for its neck to explode a second later as the Hokage blew a hole in it with his rasengan and jumped out. He was again forced to jump away as pellets of golden sand flew at him. When he landed, he raced towards the Kazekage who he thought would be helpless.

Only to be forced to change direction as a wall of gold sand appeared in front of him, and threatened to swallow him up. Now, he was speeding towards Onoki who was floating in midair. Throwing several Hiraishi Kunai at him, Minato planned to flash to one of them before Onoki deflected them with a small futon jutsu.

Still running towards Onoki, Minato jumped with chakra enhancements and prepared to smash a Rasengan in to Onoki's small frame. He almost succeeded if not for the flying Kusanagi aimed at him. Minato, in mid air, was not able to avoid the flying sword until he flashed away.

Minato was now uncertain if he could even take out one of them. Every time he tried to attack one of them, he would be interrupted by another and would lose that rare opportunity. Most of the time he would be trying to avoid attacks sent by all three of them.

He considered flashing away to another spot to recover before returning to battle until he saw someone that changed his mind. Orochimaru sensed a disturbance in the force (couldn't help it, lol) and looked up, only to see a large _thing_ dropping down on him.

The snake sannin leaped away to find a large toad landing where he was standing before. "Seh Seh Seh Seh Seh! Densetsu no Sannin, Jiraiya has arrived!" The white haired toad sennin gave an awkward dance on his battle toad before posing in a supposedly threatening stance. Orochimaru frowned "Looks like we have an interference..."

Jiraiya's toad jumped next to Minato and he formed a battle stance before turning to him, whispering "Minato, the North and East gate has been broken through, large snake summons as well as crazy amounts of Iwa, Oto and Suna shinobi has flooded into the village. The West gate is holding their own while the South gate has pushed the enemy back. Our casualties are severe..."

Said blonde grimaced "What are you doing here? Get back on the front lines, I can handle these guys." Jiraiya shook his head "You know you can't deal with them by yourself. Don't worry about the gates, Sarutobi-sensei is rushing from the South Gate to the North Gate right now, along with many of his elite Anbu guards. I'm here to help-" He was interupted by a wave of golden sand.

"Stop whispering amongst yourselves, stop wasting our time and just roll over and die!" Onoki yelled before forming several handseals "Doton Doryudan (Earth Dragon Bullet)" A Dragon-like head emerged from the ground and fired dense chunks of rock at them.

They dodged it only to have a large snake fly at them, jaw agape, ready to swallow them both alive. Jiraiya gave an annoyed look before spinning on one arm and kicking the snake away. "Orochimaru, I have dealt with your snakes so many times, I can take them out without even trying."

The Snake Sannin narrowed his eyes in slight anger. Jiraiya turned towards Minato "I will seperate Orochimaru from the others, you'll have to hold on your own with the other two until I get back." The blonde nodded in the affirmative. The white haired sennin formed several handseals "Doton Doryukatsu!"(Earth flow divide) and slammed his hands in to the ground.

A rumble occured before the ground split into two between Orochimaru and the two kages, tearing the earth apart, creating large chasms, separating them. Jiraiya leaped towards Orochimaru, wishing Minato good luck.

With Orochimaru taken out of the equation, Minato would have a much easier time with only the two S-ranked shinobis left. The blonde turned towards his Jiraiya "Hey sensei, let's have a race and see who defeats their opponents faster and go helps the other!" The white haired sennin turned back and smirked "I will be here helping you before you know it, kid!"

Onoki and the Kazekage was slightly put off by their proclamation. The Tsuchikage flew up deciding to be serious now, why was he so worried about collateral damage anyways? He put his palms together before motioning to the Kazekage to keep Minato busy.

He nodded in understanding and sent his Golden Sand after Minato again. The blonde looked at Onoki concentrating and knew something big was coming. After dodging a few sand spikes, he threw a hiraishin kunai at Onoki. The Tsuchikage floated to the right and evaded it, only for Minato to teleport next to him, a rasengan in hand.

Onoki frowned and broke his concentration to dodge Minato's attack. The Tsuchikage was ready to counter attack but saw a golden hand grip on to Minato's leg. The Hokage looked down and cursed, pulling away from its grip. He flashed away and glared at the Kazekage for interrupting.

A large amount of gold sand appeared from seemingly nowhere, hovering in mid air, blocking Minato's view of Onoki. The Kazekage finally decided to get physical and rushed towards Minato.

The blonde saw the kazekage and decided to humor him by engaging him in taijutsu. The two exchanged a few blows, a kick here and a punch there. Minato with his furious mix of jabs and deadly high kicks while the Kazekage, with a larger body frame, grappled and tossed.

A few moments passed while the two tried their hardest to disable the other before Onoki yelled out "I'm ready, get behind me!" The Kazekage smirked and leaped behind him, shedding the sand armor he had on along with the Hiraishin seals Minato had probably marked him with.

The hovering sand moved away revealing Onoki with a conical structure within his hands and a sphere within it. Minato was about to move away but sand gripped his feet, trapping him to the ground. Onoki noticed the sand gripping Minato's feed and smirked, he ain't escaping this one now...

"Jinton : Genkai Hakuri no jutsu!" He yelled as the sphere glowed and exploded with enormous power, the force directed in a conical shape towards Minato. The blonde looked at the incoming attack and clenched his teeth 'Think,think,think,think!... That's it!' Minato formed several handseals and bit his thumb. "Kuchiyose no jutsu! Hogosha no Gama! (Guardian Toad)" A poof of smoke appeared at the same time as the explosion colliding with Minato.

The smoke and dust dispersed, revealing a large armor clad toad who looked terrible, with broken armor pieces, bruises and cuts. Although Minato looked unscathed hiding behind it. "Arigatou, Gama-san" The toad nodded weakly before being dismissed.

Infusing chakra into his feet, he tore them out of the golden sand and looked furious. The area around him was utterly destroyed except for the patch of concrete he was standing on. "It's my turn now!"

T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Jiraiya led Orochimaru away from Minato's fight in order to not let him join back into their fight as easily. "Orochimaru... What happened to you? Attacking your own village? Can you get any lower than that? Trying to destroy the place that you grew up in, the place that raised you!" The sennin yelled out, furious that his ex-teammate would actually do such a thing.

Orochimaru glared at him with fury unhidden "Shut up Jiraiya! You don't know anything about me. Not now, not all those years ago."

The sennin growled "Oh I do! Trust me, I understand you. And I've come to realize, after all these years, you aren't plague with emotional issues, nor are you troubled. Orochimaru... you are just sick in the head aren't you? You are just a sociopath who derives in causing pain, aren't you? All those years, we spent trying to fix something that was already broken. You... OROCHIMARU!" Jiraiya yelled, pulling back his fist and socking the Snake Sannin in the face, launching him away.

Orochimaru pulled himself up, chuckling before erupting into full blown manic laughter. "Still the fool aren't you, Jiraiya? I'm not a sociopath... I'm a genius! I'm not crazy... In fact, I'm the only one who's still sane in this psychotic world. I, who will learn the secrets of life and death and become a God! And you... still the same jester as when we were genin, still the same foolish, childish boy... JIRAIYA!"

Orochimaru ran towards Jiraiya, pulling his arm back and socked Jiraiya in the face back, launching him backwards. The Toad sannin recovered in midair, landing on his feet. Jiraiya wiped off the slight tinge of blood from his lips and leveled his glare at Orochimaru. The Sennin clenched his fist, "Orochimaru, let's end this, once and for all!"

The Snake Sannin, seemingly out of character smiled "That's fine by me, Jiraiya. I look forward to beating you down like I've always done." The two ran towards each other, fist cocked back and drove their fist right into each other's faces. Orochimaru acted fast, a kick already sent towards Jiraiya before the white haired sannin landed another blow onto Orochimaru's left rib.

They jumped back, away from each other before gathering their chakra. Orochimaru quickly formed several handseals "Futon : Daitoppa!" And a large gust of wind blew towards Jiraiya. Said sennin formed handseals of his own, "Katon : Ryuuka!" Spewing out a large wave of flames, tearing through Orochimaru's wave of wind, headed towards the Snake Sannin strengthened by the wind.

Orochimaru responded by forming handseals "Doton Doryuuheki!" A large wall of earth rose up infront of him, shielding him from the wave of scorching fire. Orochimaru drew his Kusanagi and ran up the rock wall. Reaching the top, he looked down and saw Jiraiya looking at him.

The Snake sannin jumped from the top of the wall, raising Kusanagi above his head, ready to strike him down. Jiraiya replied with a yell "Hari Jizo" Encasing himself with his hardened and lengethened hair, in a cocoon of needles and spikes.

Kusanagi struck the hardened hair, not even leaving a scratch. Orochimaru was forced to jump back as the needles lengthened and threatened to pierce him. The hair shortened and returned to its original shape, revealing an indifferent Jiraiya, the one whom his enemies last see before they die. The one that appears when Jiraiya switches off his emotions.

He started forming several handseals and Orochimaru recognizing them started doing the same. They both ended at the same time and bit their thumbs. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" They both yelled at the same time and two equally large clouds of smoke appeared.

The smoke dispersed, revealing a gigantic red Toad, wearing a jacket and smoking from a pipe. And a massive violet Snake coiled up. The two looked at each other and immediately knew what was going on. Their summoner could only be facing one person if they are seeing each other.

"**Orochimaru... Summoning me to fight your battles again, I see." **The massive snake spoke, hissing menacingly. Orochimaru replied "Yes, Manda-sama. Now that Jiraiya has summoned the toad, I will require your assistance in battle." Manda licked the air **"Fine. But once we are done, I will require a hundred human sacrifices" **

The toad glared at the snake infront of him. **"Jiraiya! Looks like we are taking on Orochimaru ****again, huh?" **The white haired Sennin nodded "Yes, Bunta. This will be the last time, because I'm going to defeat him, right here, right now." Gamabunta exhaled a trail of smoke **"Fine, but remember that's what you said the last time too. Hmph, if Katsuyu was here, it would be just like old times, huh?" **

Manda started things off by launching itself towards Bunta, ready to sink its fangs into the toad. The Frog boss blocked the attack with his gigantic tanto, and pushed Manda back. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and shouted "Bunta, I need some oil!" The white haired sennin formed some handseals as Gamabunta shot out a jet of oil.

"Katon : Gamayu Endan!(Toad Oil Flame Bullet)" Jiraiya shouted as he blew out a stream of fire at the jet of oil, igniting it, creaating a large flamethrower like wave of fire. The fire enveloped Manda and Orochimaru, causing it to apparently hiss in agony.

But they weren't tricked, they knew it wasn't over yet. The flames dispersed, revealing Manda's shed skin. The ground burst open as something purple erupted out of it. Gamabunta sliced at it, only to notice it was only Manda's tail. The ground behind Bunta burst open and this time, Manda's head flew out ready to bite Bunta behind his back.

However, Jiraiya already knew that would happen and had already formed handseals in preparation. "Katon Zukokku!(Searing Migrane)" He shot out a small fireball that flew towards Manda before erupting into a giant firestorm upon touching the Snake.

Manda truly hissed in agony this time as he dived away in pain, trying to shake off the flames. Orochimaru put them out with a water jutsu, relieving him of the pain. Manda glared at Jiraiya **"I'm going to enjoy eating you!"** The Sennin did not reply and merely stared back coldly.

T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Minato took a stance and closed his eyes in concentration, he snapped them open as a burst of chakra come from within. "Kaimon, Kai!"(Gate of opening) A fury of chakra enveloped Minato, giving him a blue outline. The blue eyed hokage smirked, it's time for payback now.

He threw a dozen hiraishin kunai at them, flashing in between each one. The Kazekage tried defending with his golden sand, only for Minato to suddenly disappear and reappear at another location, before flashing away again and reappearing at another area.

Onoki and the Kazekage looked around as yellow flashes occured all around them. Minato smirked 'This is why I'm called the yellow flash of Konoha! Rasengan!' Out of nowhere, the Hokage appeared behind the Kazekage and landed a successful Rasengan at his back. The Kazekage grinded his teeth in pain, but his sand armor protected him.

But not for long as Minato landed another rasengan at the same spot, grinding away the golden sand armor, the force of the technique pushed him into the air. The Kazekage flew up, spitting up some blood as he gradually fell down, being caught by his golden sand.

Minato was given no time to rest as Onoki came in from the side, a fist cocked back, encased in rock. The blonde defended himself with his left arm, only for it to immediately break from the power of the attack. A combination of Doton : Kengan (Fist Rock) and Doton : Chokajugan (Ultra-added-weight Rock), drastically increasing the weight of Onoki's attack.

Minato was launched away, crying in pain while craddling his broken left arm. He recovered in mid air, and landed on his feet. Minato glanced at his left arm, a dark bruise already forming over the broken arm. 'This is bad... I can't fight anymore with this arm, leaving me with only one arm to fend off the both of them. But I can take out the Kazekage soon, Onoki is what I'm afraid of. He has barely received any damage at all throughout this fight, and from what I hear, his chakra stores are massive, so a fight of stamina is out of the question...'

The Kazekage had already recovered from the double Rasengan and was wincing in pain as he pulled himself up. He was already tired of this ninjutsu battle, and decided to engage Minato in a physical battle again. The Kazekage formed a golden sword from his sand, a broadsword half the size of Minato.

He covered himself in sand armor and once again rushed towards Minato. The blonde found himself in a sword fight, while holding onto a kunai. So this was why the Kazekage was also known as the 'Golden Knight of Suna'. His skills with a broadsword was indeed terrifying, as each slash and stab came closer to beheading Minato.

Minato could think of one thing while dodging and parrying the sword strikes. 'This is going to suck...'

T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

And this is the end of the chapter, how did you like it? I really enjoyed writing the fight between Jiraiya and Orochimaru. The Four Kage fight scene was kinda difficult to write, because there isn't much info on them and their attacks were very limited to the few unique jutsus they had. The Naruto vs Gaara part was relatively easy, but did you think I overpowered Naruto or underpowered Shukaku? I think Shukaku might have gone down a little too easily.

Anyways, like I said, exams are over, and its the holiday season! I will be going overseas alot to visit some of my relatives living abroad so don't expect any new chapters for the next month or so. I will try to finish the next chapter as quickly as I can, but I can't promise anything.

So.. yeah, Love it, Hate it, Review it. Any comments, suggestions or _praises_ will be greatly appreciated. All your reviews are what motivates me to write new chapters!

_Seriously, Review._

_Well if you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (Evil Laughter) _


	15. Chapter 125 Extra!

The Hero's Brother Chapter 12.5 _**Extra**_

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or anything else I may have used.

Author's Notes : And after more than a year, I'm back! Here's a 10k words chapter as an apology! **But please note, this is not the continuation of the previous chapter.** To be honest, I'm kinda caught up in my Harry Potter story currently so I haven't had the time nor motivation to write a new chapter for THB. Even more so, I recently took a part-time job in the night while I'm studying in the day. Yeah, life's a bitch like that.

These are some stuff I wanted to add in to the story, but either forgot about it, or decided to drop it. Have fun!

**T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R**

**_Wave Arc, before Chuunin Exams.  
_**

"Yosha! This is going to be so sweet! I'm going to kick so much ass!" Jin loudly exclaimed as he punched the air in triumph. "Father _finally_ decided to give us a C-rank mission, even if it's escorting some old dude." Jin finished, as he and Team 7 walked along the main route that led to Konoha's North Gate.

Tazuna eyed the boy in thinly veiled contempt. When he had first been introduced to Team 7, Tazuna immediately received a less than warm welcome from said team. More specifically, the brown-haired boy who was complaining to the Hokage, pointing out that Tazuna was in fact _not_ the princess the boy had expected. While gesturing at him with the condescension only nobles were privileged with.

Any attempts at retaliation towards the arrogant brat, be it physically or even verbally, was met with threats to cancel his mission from the Hokage, who he quickly learned was the brat's father. It seemed that gave the boy the impression that Tazuna was from then on free game, for he had to endure taunts and insults, mostly about his disheveled appearance and constant inebriation.

"R-right, Jin-kun." Hinata shyly responded with a blush resting comfortably on her vanilla soft skin.

Shino glanced at Jin, his trademark Aburame stoic features not revealing in anyway his thoughts. "It is crucial we approach this mission with seriousness and not reckless abandon, Jin." Shino had noticed he have become significantly more vocal than he was before he joined Team 7. It must have been due to the constant amount of times his two teammates tested his patience. He had no clue how Namikaze Jin had acquired the position of Rookie of the year, with his less than mediocre physical attributes, along with complete lack of talent in any of the shinobi arts.

The Jinchuuriki had attempted to assert his dominance upon him on numerous occasions. Some of them even included potentially lethal attacks, especially his reckless use of the _Rasengan._ It took every Aburame bone within Shino to not retaliate whenever Jin launched an attack at him. It was not as if Shino had trouble with Jin, no. It was merely an inconvenience, really, and rather rude as well. He doubt Jin could really stand any chance if he decided to seriously fight back one day.

"Huh!? Do you doubt my prowess, bug boy." Jin threatened, cracking his knuckles menacingly. Shino gave a soft sigh, before turning back to the road, not willing to exhaust any energy in this completely pointless confrontation. That was how it always been in Team 7. No matter what, Kakashi-sensei would side with Jin anyways. Even during training, more attention was piled upon Jin than the rest.

"I-I'm sure no matter w-what comes up, Jin-kun will be able to defeat them!" Hinata exclaimed softly. Shyly peering at Jin, who was staring at her silently for a moment before laughing loudly and put his arm around her shoulder roughly.

"Hinata's the only who understands. Doesn't matter what comes up, I will beat them down!" Jin announced loudly, as if challenging anyone to prove him wrong.

Amongst all the noise, Kakashi was taking point, walking in an almost paranoid caution that was perfected to look laid back. His mind repeating the last words Minato-sensei told him before they left. _'Protect Jin, Kakashi.'_ For the man who has saved his life more times than he could count, and restored his mental stability, no task was too difficult. And Jin will be protected, no matter against what.

In fact, to protect Jin was Kakashi's most important mission. Minato-sensei had not only pulled him out of ANBU Delta division, the most elite and mysterious squadron, to merely teach a team of Academy graduates. His primary objective, was to protect Jin from anything that could potentially harm him. His secondary objective was to teach Jin everything he knew so the Jinchuuriki could protect himself as well, but currently to no avail.

Then, Kakashi's eyes spotted a puddle of water, his mind instantly connected the dots. Thrusting his right hand to the side to stop his team from continuing, Kakashi flashed through handseals, "Raiton : Jibashi." A wave of electricity sped out from Kakashi's hands to the puddle. Two figures jumped out of the puddle, revealing it to be an illusion, but was too late to fully avoid the lightning jutsu. Each being electrocuted at their legs.

The raiton jutsu did not fully incapcitate them, but effectively disabled their use of the legs.

"Again… Raiton : Jibashi." Flashing through the same seals again, now pumping the maximum amount of chakra needed, thicker and darker blue electricity ripped through the ground, and its sharp edges pierced into one of the two shinobi. It was a painful, unnecessarily prolonged death in which the shinobi could only feel an intense burn throughout his entire body for a moment before his was liquified.

His hands still crackling with electricity, Kakashi reappeared in front of the only surviving shinobi, and stopped his hands an inch from him. "Tell me, now." Kakashi's face, was set in a deathly glare, his sole eye hardened and turned murderous. The menacing blue electricity glowed darker, there was to be no mercy…

"Please…" the shinobi weakly muttered. Kakashi's eye narrowed.

Thrusting his hand against the mist nuke-nin's chest, identified from the scratched Kiri headband, a pulse of electricity ran through his body, extracting a painful scream. The electricity was significantly weaker than the previous two, only being lightning chakra instead of an actual jutsu.

"What's your name." It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

"G-Gozu." The mist nin's rebreather scrambled his voice, but one could still hear the utter hopelessness and helplessness in it.

"Why are you here."

Gozu hesitated, big mistake. Another current of electricity ran through his body, he screamed bloody murder once again.

"Do not test me." Kakashi bit his tongue, he hadn't wanted to show this to those kids, but to protect Jin, what was a few children's mental wellness. It was a sloppy interrogation, loud and messy, but it was the quickest way to ensure accurate information extracted from a victim fearing death.

"T-the b-rrr," The electricity dulled Gozu's motor skills, "b-bridge buil-builder. We w-were sent to kill him."

At this, Kakashi's eyes widened. He had thought their target was Jin. Kami knew how much the Mist hated Minato-sensei. It was commonly known that the Mist had remained neutral in the Third Shinobi World War. But why? Why would they miss the opportunity to crush the supposed strongest shinobi village along with their ally the Hidden Sand.

What wasn't commonly known was that Minato-sensei had single handedly crushed the vanguard forces Kirigakure had sent. A battalion of over a hundred Mist elites, slaughtered down to every last man and woman. It was a warning, one that sent every Mist-nin thinking of participating in the war running back to the safety of their village. It was a forceful and violent deterrent, but one that worked.

"Who sent you."

Gozu coughed out one word, "Gato."

Kakashi frowned, before electrocuting the mist nin once more, this time fully rendering him unconscious. Rising up from his crouched position, he slowly turned to face the now rapidly paling Tazuna. "Why would the multi-billionaire Gato send assassins against a bridge builder. And I assure you, if your answer is not to my satisfaction, we are well within our rights to leave you here and move your name to our Banned Clients List."

"Y-you can't leave me here!" The bridge builder cried out, taking a step back as Kakashi reappeared infront of him.

"Then answer me."

Whether it was the cold fury Tazuna could hear in the man's voice, or the demonstration of his abilities, but Tazuna knew he had no choice but to reveal everything.

"So you hid the true nature of your mission, and risked the lives of everyone on this team just to avoid having to pay more? Unforgivable, your actions might have gotten one of us killed. Team 7! We're turning back to Konoha." Kakashi ordered, preparing to leave.

"Wait, Kakashi-niisan! This is our first C-ranked mission, how can we just turn tail and run after coming so far?" Jin pleaded.

"The situation is too precarious for you three to handle. We risk facing A-ranked missing nin, shinobi that could kill you in the blink of an eye! We are leaving." Kakashi said. Though he appreciate Jin's enthusiasm, there were too many unexpected certainties, too many factors that could risk Jin's life.

"A-ano, Kakashi-sensei. I think we're more than ready to handle any challenges we might face. We have Jin-kun after all." Hinata timidly said, though steadily growing more confident.

Shino raised an eyebrow. "I disagree. Like sensei has said, we are not skilled enough to be risking our lives against high-level shinobi, at least _some of us_ aren't." The hostility in Shino's voice could have surprised even his own father.

Jin glared at him, "Well then _the rest of us_ will pick up the slack for those who can't, bug boy!" He turned back to Kakashi, "We can do it, Kakashi-niisan. Believe it! Right, Hinata?"

"R-right!"

Kakashi glanced between Jin and Shino and sighed, "While, it's two against one."

"Yosha! We're definitely going to kick some nukenin ass!" Jin loudly shouted. Hinata merely grinned brightly at Jin.

Shino shook his head, why did he even bother, the outcome had already been decided.

Tazuna looked estatic, "Thank you! My daughter and super cute grandson will be so glad."

Jin looked at him in distaste, "Shove it old man, we aren't doing this for your sake."

The bridge builder frowned slightly but couldn't say anything less they changed their minds, "Yes, yes, of course."

Kakashi looked in the direction of Nami no Kuni, he had a bad feeling about this…

T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

They had been walking for a few hours now, and another hour after they crossed the river on a boat belonging to Tazuna's friend.

The atmosphere had not been as tense as Kakashi would have preferred. Instead, Jin and Hinata looked to be as carefree as they were on D-ranked missions. Shino had been using his kikaichuu to scout their surrounding environment per his instruction, though Kakashi had been slightly proud to find that Shino had already been doing so without needing his order. He would have instructed Hinata to use her Byakugan to look ahead as well, but she had such a painfully small Chakra reserve, that using any more would render her useless in a real battle.

"Sensei." Kakashi heard Shino breathe out before widening his eyes. He immediately pulled Jin and Tazuna down while Shino dragged Hinata down to avoid the large swinging blade that flew out of the forest and would have sliced them in half without their timely evasion.

A swirl of wind and water occurred on top of the sword that was currently embedded into the trunk of a particularly thick tree after it had decimated several others. A figure emerged out of the miniature typhoon and stepped on the handle, his hands still in the last handseal for a shunshin. The man took one look at them and smirked, "Hoh… Copy-ninja Kakashi. The man of a thousand jutsus. No wonder the demon brothers failed. Tazuna must have paid quite a sum to employ an elite ANBU like you as a bodyguard."

Then his gaze turned to the three genin who stood rooted to the ground in front of Tazuna, their grips on their kunai shaky and trembling. The killing intent being released by the man was breathtaking, and not in a good way. "Are those… they are. Hahaha, Kakashi, have you been reduced to a Genin sensei? Hahahah, how the mighty have fallen. The former ANBU captain, released from duty to babysit a bunch of brats? PATHETIC!"

The wind and water finally dispersed, to reveal a tall, muscular man wearing tight form-fitting white and grey sleeveless shirt. His forearms were wrapped in thick, dark leather, leaving his muscular biceps exposed. His pants were the same white and grey color, probably to blend in to mist, but was instead baggy to allow mobility. The lower half of his face was covered in the same strips of dark leather, with a scratched Kiri headband to hold up his hair.

Kakashi stood silent, his body tensing up for the battle that was surely inevitable. He didn't want to allow his mind to wander, but Zabuza had been right. Even he had questioned Minato-sensei's decision to pull him out of ANBU in order to protect his son. It was pathetic, for a man with over three hundred confirmed kills and several successful S-ranked missions under his belt to become the sensei of three, rookie genins still wet behind the ears. But even so, he would not allow himself to shirk from any mission given. Erasing those thoughts from his mind, Kakashi shifted his form, to prepare for the clash between two A-ranked shinobi.

Zabuza stepped down from the sword and forcefully ripped it out of the tree, splinters wood flew out. Zabuza turned around to deflect a slash from Kakashi's tantou, taking advantage of the opening Zabuza had given him when he had turned back to pull out his sword.

Zabuza grinned, even if Kakashi was a genin sensei now, he still hadn't lost his edge, to close that distance between them in that short instant. If he was a lesser shinobi, that would have already ended the fight. However, he wasn't a lesser shinobi, he was Momochi Zabuza, _Kirigakure no Kijin_! With that thought, he easily pushed Kakashi back, and with a roar, swung his blade back.

Kakashi ducked under the slash and sped forward in a burst of speed to stab his tantou into Zabuza's gut, only for it to collapse into water. The real Zabuza reappeared behind Kakashi, bisecting him horizontally, only for it to burst into a small cloud of smoke.

A kick to the face launched Zabuza away, who landed on one hand and pushed himself up. "Interesting, Konoha's dog still has his fangs. But you're still a little puppy at best, Hatake!" In a burst of speed, he dashed up to Kakashi and immediately had him within striking range. His first slash was dodged, the second barely deflected, and the third clipped Kakashi on his right shoulder, barely grazing it.

Zabuza grinned, he had drawn first blood. Continuing his relentless assault, each slash came closer to beheading Kakashi than the previous. Tired of merely dodging, Kakashi twisted his body to avoid Zabuza's swing, and dropped to the floor to deliver a kick to his abdomen.

The mist nin shook off the kick like it was nothing. Spend a couple decades training your abs, they would eventually become as hard as a block of granite. But the force of the blow knocked him away, putting some valuable distance between them. Now with a comfortable space, Kakashi turned to his specialised art : Ninjutsu.

"**Katon : Goukakyuu no jutsu!"** Without needing handseals, Kakashi launched a large ball of fire at Zabuza, who easily knocked it away after infusing come chakra with the flat side of his blade. However, the Great Fireball only served to block his vision as Kakashi had already finished his last hand seal, "Katon : Gouryuuka no jutsu!"

A large, dragon head-shaped fireball exploded out of Kakashi's mouth, much bigger and stronger than his previous jutsu. Zabuza stuck his sword into the ground and flashed through a couple handseals, "**Suiton : Suijinheki**." Water flew out from the river behind Zabuza and clashed together infront of him to form a wall. The immensely powerful fire jutsu exploded into steam upon crashing into the wall of water.

Not relenting on the jutsu battle, Kakashi continued, "**Katon : Kasumi Enbu**!" He spewed out a large mass of gas which upon contact with the small fire that still scorched the ground, ignited into a large fireball.

However, Zabuza had already been forming handseals himself, "**Suiton : Suijinchu**!" Zabuza kneaded the chakra inside the body, converting it into water before expelling it in a dense, curved torrent, creating a barricade that protected him from the less powerful fire jutsu. Unhappy with the current defensive position he had assumed, Zabuza lashed out with his sword, splitting the leftover steam in half and launched himself forward towards Kakashi.

Immediately abandoning the jutsu he had been planning to use, Kakashi settled into a tight taijutsu stance, his left arm behind his back white his right hand infront of him. Mentally thanking Gai for all the taijutsu spars between them, Kakashi's right fist snaked past the oncoming sword and landed on Zabuza's face, knocking him backwards once more.

"Not finished yet…" Kakashi huffed out as he continued with a heel kick downwards that landed on Zabuza's shoulder and another elbow towards his solar plexus. Kakashi then spun once more, intending to finish the fight with a solid kick to Zabuza's temple, only for the man to reach out and grab it. In a classic, Judo toss, Zabuza tossed Kakashi backwards… into the river.

Already saturated with his chakra, Zabuza hadn't even needed handseals to move the water in the river, "**Suiton : Suirou no jutsu**!" An orb of water encompassed Kakashi and trapped him within. Kakashi cursed and struck the water prison with his tanto, a large cut opened it, but was instantly resealed by Zabuza's chakra.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Hinata shouted, tossing several shuriken at Zabuza.

Smirking, Zabuza summoned several water clones rose up from the water that was already dense with his chakra. The shurikens were easily blocked by one of the clones.

"Now, all that's left are the three brats." Zabuza said, his clones stepping menacingly towards the trio.

"Run!" Kakashi shouted at his students, while futilely slashing at the water prison.

Shino took a step forward, "Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash, sensei. You taught us that." With that, a large swarm of kikaichuu buzzed angrily and emerged from the sleeves of Shino's coat.

"An Aburame? Then you will stand no chance against me." A simple water jutsu that could be performed by even a water clone blew away the swarm that got too close to one of them. Against most suiton or katon users, Aburame members tend to lose way too many of their hive for any victory to be worth the loss.

Jin took a step forward as well, he had been shaking throughout the entire battle, this was the only time had had face any true danger. When Kakashi had been caught, he had seriously contemplated running. But… like Shino said, those who abandon their comrades were worse than trash!

Forming two shadow clones, Jin began to focus chakra into his palm. The time needed to form his Rasengan had been drastically shortened, due to his hardwork while training. From a whole 20 seconds to a short 18 seconds. But this was no time to feel triumphant, however much he deserved it.

Zabuza had seen the brown-haired boy summon two shadow clones, judging from when he had yelled out his jutsu's name loudly. It was an impressive feat, and that was the only reason why Zabuza allowed the boy to continue forming his jutsu, whatever it was.

"Yosh…" Jin started, and glared at Zabuza, "Eat this! Rasengan!"

The Demon of the Hidden Mist clones tensed, preparing to deal with anything the kid might pull out. But all he did was… run. Painfully slow at that, all the while yelling at the top of his lungs, arm cocked back with a glowing blue sphere in his hand.

As amusing as the scene was, Zabuza preferred not to kill anyone from a major shinobi village if he could help it. Lest the kid was someone important's child, and they sent hunter nin after him specifically as vengeance. His clone easily sidestepped the attack and another jumped forward to kick the boy's gut, making him fly back. While the first clone swung his sword to leave a nice long cut on the boy's face as he flew back.

"Jin-kun!" Hinata yelled out as she ran over to catch him.

The kick had knocked all the air out of Jin's lungs, but he was still coherent enough to form some semblance of a sentence. "W-we ha-have to ru-run!" Climbing up on his feet, and wiping away the streak of blood that was rapidly dribbling down the side of his chin, he grabbed Hinata's hand and started running away.

Shino widened his eyes as he watched Jin run off with Hinata, abandoning his third teammate and sensei. He turned back to Kakashi who was watching them as well with a hollow look in his eyes. Then, his sensei turned to him, and his features hardened. "You must go too."

"B-But."

"Now!" A step back turned into a full blown sprint out of the area, Shino turned back to watch the clones laugh and close in on his sensei.

Meanwhile, the real Zabuza was laughing aloud, "They were smart at least, I would have killed them as well other wise. Must be disappointing, huh? To see your students abandon you like that. Worse than trash, right?"

Kakashi closed his eyes in silence. There was only one chance to escape. Kakashi prayed Zabuza's arrogance would allow him the chance.

"You would have made a fine opponent, Hatake Kakashi. You disappoint me." Zabuza solemnly said as a clone heaved up its sword and prepared to cut into the water prison.

"But… to take the head of the copy-ninja, the bounty would be enough to feed me and Haku for years! Any last words?"

Kakashi remained silent with his eyes closed, he would require absolute concentration for this.

"Nothing? Very well. Good bye, Sharingan no Kakashi!" The clone swung his sword at the water prison.

The moment the sword made contact with the water prison, Kakashi's eyes immediately snapped open. _'Kaimon Kai!'_ The rush of chakra as well as the release of the inhibitions on his muscles allowed Kakashi to barely dodge the the incoming blade and jump out the opening the sword made.

"Shit!" Zabuza cursed, releasing his hold on the water prison.

Kakashi turned to Zabuza in mid air, and formed three hand seals. "Doton : Moguragakure no jutsu." Diving into the earth as if it was water, Kakashi immediately dug in to the ground, escaping safely.

"Fuck!" Zabuza turned to the bridge builer who was left unattended by the escaped Konoha Shinobi. "Well, at least I'm still getting paid by Gato." A single swing silenced Tazuna's screams.

T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

"I can't believe that Gato tried to double cross me." Zabuza gumbled as he used his sword to cut through the thick vines of the forest.

"We should have expected something like that, Zabuza-sama." A soft, delicate voice replied. Zabuza clenched his teeth and back handed the person who spoke.

"When I require your opinion I will ask for it, _weapon._"

The person who had fallen down picked herself up, nursing her bruised cheek. Her large, dark brown eyes turned to her master as she desperately tried to control her emotions. "Hai, Zabuza-sama."

The Demon of the Mist eyed her with disdain, "Tch, if not for your kekkei genkai, I would never have brought you with me. Learn your place… Haku."

"My apologies, Zabuza-sama." She repeated again, bowing apologetically.

Grunting in response, Zabuza continued cutting his way through the dense vegetation.

After returning with the head of the bridge builder he had been sent to assassinate, Gato had not only denied him the reward promised, but was driven off by two other A-ranked nuke nin. Rokusho Aoi and Kurosuki Raiga. He normally would have easily killed both them with Haku's help, but with the fatigue that was quickly kicking in from his fight with Hatake Kakashi, and the fact that they were ambushed with Zabuza receiving a large Gash from his left hip bone to his right collar bone, courtesy of Rokusho Aoi's Raijin no Ken.

With him heavily injured and slightly paralysed from the lightning sword, it ended up as a two versus one scenario with the two blasting Haku with lightning and water jutsus. An inherently suiton shinobi, Haku stood no chance against both of the combined and was forced to retreat while carrying him off. Using her kekkei genkai to form a mirror, she was able to escape with both their lives intact, but Zabuza's pride shattered.

Rokusho Aoi and Kusosuki Raiga pursued them relentlessly, chasing them from Nami no Kuni and was forced to seek refuge in Hi no Kuni's thick forests. They eventually lost them with the use of clever traps that used up all of their remaining exploding tags. Zabuza took consolation in the fact that he heard one of them scream loudly in pain as they were escaping.

After a few weeks living in a forest, Haku's extensive knowledge on herbs and medicinal plants allowed him to make a full recovery. But now, they were stuck in Hi no Kuni, trapped by the constant ANBU patrols. They had only managed to sneak through the border through complete luck, accidentally finding an opening in Konohagakure's normally tight ANBU patrol schedules. The intense heat coupled with the constant lack of food, except for the occasional game caught by Haku, was beginning to test Zabuza's patience, which was why he was now even more tyrannic towards Haku than before.

Zabuza continued swinging his sword before he sudddenly stopped. Why? He had caught sight of a two vines hanging from a tree, cleanly cut from each other. He had been here before. He spotted another two vines and a few vegetation that was left in the same condition. They were going in circles…

Zabuza formed a battle stance, his sword held ready in front of him. Haku slipped out several senbons as well, though not fully understanding the need to.

The Demon of the Hidden Mist turned to his apprentice, "We've been going in circles you idiot! There's a genjutsu, Kai!" The trees around them started to blur before completely fading away. What they noticed first was a team of shinobi standing on the branch of a tree infront of them. They were a genin team, definitely. Three of them looked as young as Hatake Kakashi's team, while their sensei looked to be as old as 70.

Zabuza was now cautious. One did not live to the age of 70 as a shinobi without being able to carve out the years he had lived with hard earned skills and experience.

The blonde one spoke first, "You took way too long to break out of that simple genjutsu, Zabuza Momochi. Your senses has been dulled."

Zabuza gritted his teeth, this fucking brat dared to lecture him on breaking out of a genjutsu his sensei probably casted. However much he wanted to mutilate the little blonde shit stain, after years of experience, he had learned to choose his battles.

First off, with the lack of sufficient food and water, Zabuza was significantly weakened. Next, though his injuries have completely healed, they still left a sore spot. Third, they were in a jungle, without a single water source around, Suiton jutsu was completely out of the question unless he was willing to sacrifice what precious hydration his body still possessed. Finally, they had been walking for the entire day now, and had been for a few days before, fatigue was already kicking in.

He needed to escape.

Forming quick handseals, Zabuza expelled whatever water he still had left in his body along with his chakra, "Suiton : Kirigakure no jutsu!" Instead of a slow thickening of the air around him, Zabuza instead expelled thick gusts of mists instantly, before turning to run.

The blonde shinobi grinned before jumping high into the air. "Fuuton : Taifu Doroppu!" Rotating blades of wind surrounded him as he flew downwards in a spiraling motion and landed on his two feet. The gusts of wind blew away the thick mass of mist, revealing Zabuza and Haku who were in the process of escaping.

"Raiton : Gian!"

Zabuza and Haku was forced to separate by a spear of lightning.

"Raiton : Kaminari Kawarimi!" The blonde boy reappeared between them in a loud clap of thunder, and kicked them both away with a spin kick. Turning to Zabuza, he flicked out a pair of butterfly knives. His slashes was rapidly blocked by the mist nin's large sword, even with the wind chakra he was channeling in to the knives. Long white blades now lengethened the knives' reach.

A rapid combination of stabs, thrusts and slashes kept Zabuza busy blocking each and every of the blow. The strikes weren't as heavy as Zabuza's, but they were fast, unpredicatble and each struck with a deadly accuracy. Each attack targeted a vital point, and not just his organs, but his joints, key muscles, and one of them was even close to slicing off his left ear.

In his weakened state, Zabuza could do nothing but attempt to block all of the boy's attacks, but even he knew that he didn't have the stamina to continue holding off the konoha shinobi's relentless assault.

"Ninpou : Senbon Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

A seemingly cloud of needles flew at the blonde shinobi, seemingly intent on turning him into a pincushion. He was forced to break off his assualt on Zabuza and jumped away from the needles intended trajectory.

Zabuza looked relieved to have had the boy forced to back off. The kid was good. "Not bad, boy. What's your name." It was merely a diversion to allow him to catch his breath, but the kid bought it.

The blonde boy smirked, his blue eyes glittering in the sun, "Namikaze Naruto, remember it."

"Rasengan!" The blue spiraling sphere drilled into Zabuza's muscled body with ease. The large man flew back and slammed into a tree, gasping for breath as all the air in his lungs were knocked out. Zabuza looked up weakly at the boy calmly walked towards him.

What was supposed to be an easy battle against a genin turned out to be that blonde boy just playing around with him, _Kirigakure no Kijin_. Now, his face was cut up by invisible blades of wind. His torso scorched and broken by fists of fire. His limbs close to breaking from heavy kicks and punches. The boy could have finished him at any point of the fight, Zabuza knew, but instead he prolonged it to a full hour of training with him as a training dummy.

Zabuza glanced to the side, where Haku stood and watched. Dozens of times, he had called out to his apprentice for help, but to only receive a blank stare. His Kubikiri Houchou stabbed into the tree where he was resting, wielded by the blonde boy.

Naruto smirked, "As fun as this was, it's time to end this." Hefting the ridiculously heavy sword, Naruto positioned the blade to behead the missing nin, his bounty would be a significant increase in his wealth.

Zabuza glared at him futilely. His chakra was depleted, there wasn't even enough energy in him to say a single word. His body was broken, his pride beaten down and dignity shredded. Turning to Haku, her dark brown eyes filled with pity and satisfaction was the last thing Zabuza saw before darkness claimed him.

"Well, that was kinda boring…" Naruto turned to Haku, who immediately settled into a taijutsu stance with senbon in between her fingers. "You must be Haku, I presume."

Haku's features hardened, "With the death of Zabuza-sama, I've lost my purpose. Kill me if you must. You have the right to take my life, but know I will also take yours." Her grip tightened on the senbon.

Naruto smiled, "We have been watching you for awhile. I saw how he treated you. Why does the death of such a man cause you to lose your purpose?"

Haku, now devoid of any real purpose to keep her alive, told the story of how she escaped the blood purge of Kiri, and how she met Zabuza. How they survived numerous encounters with Mist Hunter-nin and the apprenticeship she received. And how he slowly started becoming more violent and abusive, started to treat her more of a weapon than a human. His promises soon faded to lies, and whatever patience she had regarding him was soon lost.

"That's a moving story, however, let me repeat my question. How does the death of such a man causes you to lose your purpose in life." Naruto repeated.

Haku glared at him, "Don't you get it, Zabuza-sama save me from a life of emptiness and cruelty. He gave me a purpose, to be his apprentice. I would have followed him to the ends of the earth if he asked."

"Yet, you let him be killed by me while you watched silently."

Haku gasped, it was true. She did allow, no, even encouraged Naruto to kill her master by staying silent throughout the entire fight.

"What.. Why did I…?" Haku muttered, devestated that she could allow her savior to be killed, while doing nothing to help him.

"Because, you knew. You knew that he doesn't deserve you, neither your skills nor your loyalty. You knew that the only thing he still deserved, was death."

Haku's legs buckled and she fell to her knees, tears streamed down her cheeks. "Then… I no longer have anything… worth living for." She turned to Naruto. "Kill me."

Naruto walked towards her, his hand reaching for Haku's face. The girl closed her eyes, ready to accept death with open arms.

A finger flicked her forehead, causing her to yelp and rubbed the spot. "Wh-what?"

"Ahou. Do you really think someone's life can be so expendable. Your mother gave birth to you and gave you your life. Don't betray her and everyone else that has cared for you by allowing yourself to die so easily." Naruto said blankly, his fingers still in the 'flicking' position.

"Hmph," Haku scoffed, "The only people who has ever cared for me, my mother and Zabuza-sama, are both dead."

"What about me?" Naruto suggested.

Haku's eyes widened, "Wh-what about you?"

Flicking her forehead again, causing her to yelp adorably again, Naruto stood up straight and stared at her blankly, "If I didn't care for you, would I be talking you out of dying right now. So if you allow yourself to be killed right now, you would be betraying me as well."

'_He cares for me?' _The thought repeated in her mind, causing Haku to blush beet red. "Th-th-then, I won't die… for you."

Naruto smiled, "Good. You probably have nowhere to go now, huh?"

Haku nodded, not trusting her speech capabilities right now.

Naruto took on a thinking pose, "Well, I'm sure Konoha would welcome you with open arms," He looked towards Danzo, who was standing with the rest of his team, "right?"

Danzo nodded. Naruto grinned, "Come back with us to Konoha, find your new purpose with me."

Haku looked up at him, with the sun shining at the back of his head, he looked positively angelic. "Hai… Naruto-sama."

T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

Team Ten found themselves amidst a field littered with corpses.

They had been sent on an A-rank mission almost immediately after returning from their previous B-rank mission. It was only two weeks away from the chuunin-exam too, the Yondaime probably wanted to keep them away to prevent Naruto from joining. Fortunately, Danzo was able to easily smuggle Haku through the gates with the aid of his Root underlings, and she was put up in a Root complex before Naruto was forced to leave for his mission, not without saying goodbye.

The mission itself was rather complicated, with vague information and limited time to plan. They were to intercept a squadron of 'unknown' shinobi trespassing in Hi no Kuni territory. The unknown shinobi were spotted by a squad of ANBU patrolling the borders. After spying on them, they had reported that the unknown shinobi would be cutting across Hi no Kuni. Confident of their abilities, they engaged the squadron of foreign ninjas, only to be annihilated, not before sending what they have learned back to Konoha.

Why the Yondaime had sent a genin team after a full squadron of foreign shinobi that killed an entire ANBU squad, Naruto had a rough idea. Each time Naruto returned from a high-ranking mission, his father had looked increasingly displeased. It was only strict regulations that prevented him from sending Naruto's team on a suicide, S-ranked mission.

Using Sai's ink birds and dogs, they had quickly located the foreign ninja. When Team Ten found them, they had been resting in a clearing. Naruto was sent in to scout in advance, using the Mayfly technique. The ANBU had clearly done some damage against them, as many of them spotted heavy wounds and were exhausted. Only around half of them were in fighting condition, and even less were in perfect form.

One particular shinobi had caught Naruto's eye, however. A pale skinned teen with shoulder length white hair and two dots on his forehead, wearing loose combat garb. Naruto had seen him ordering the shinobi around, now identified as Oto Ninjas judging by the musical note on their headbands, clearly he must have been their commanding officer.

The resting Oto shinobi had were given two hours to rest, more than enough time for Team ten to plan an ambush. After Naruto returned with the information, Danzo had drilled his gaze into Shikamaru and instructed him to form a plan. Not that the old war hawk was unable to think of a strategy, he wanted Shikamaru to practice forming tactical plans.

The plan itself was simple, they would have to attack as soon as possible, so as to not allow them any additional moment of rest. There were 20 of them, however half were already too wounded to fight, while only a handful were in perfect condition. They needed to take down the ones who were not injured first, taking advantage of their surprise attack. In the confusion, Naruto and Sai would unleash their more devastating jutsus on the rest of the ones who could still fight. The following chaos would allow them to easily eliminate the injured ones, and even take a prisoner or two.

Things did not go according to plan. First Shikamaru, Naruto and Sai had swooped in from above, on Sai's ink bird, planning to assassinate the ones who were still in perfect condition. Sai and Shikamaru were successful in their attack, cutting down their two targets without them even noticing. Naruto, however, had some trouble. He had been targeting the white-haired teen, whose reflexes he had underestimated. The pale teen was able to sense Naruto's attack and deflected his slash with a white sword or something.

Naruto instantly backed off from the teen, and continued with the plan. Sai quickly drew out five ink dogs who managed to take down an additional two shinobi. While Shikamaru, without any hard hitting techniques, used Shadow Blade to cut through an unarmed shinobi. Naruto formed four handseals and unleashed a fury of wind and fire, tearing through four more ninjas.

By now, the squadron of shinobi had already come to their senses, but it was too late. Continuing the slaughter, Shikamaru and Sai each used their own respective techniques to rampage through the rest.

Naruto, however, was locked in a sword fight with the white-haired teen from before. _'Shit, this guy is stronger than I thought!' _The teen was surprisingly skilled in swordplay and managed to force Naruto on the defensive for a long while. Each stab and slash was unexpectedly heavy, judging from the teen's thin limbs. The teen's kenjutsu was admirable, his bone-white sword flowed fluidly at times, while reaching dangerously close to Naruto's flesh at others.

Naruto's kenjutsu was admittedly not the best, something he had promised to himself to improve on in the future. Seeing as how each attack was getting closer and closer to his face, Naruto abandoned his sword by swinging wildly at his opponent before throwing it like a spear at him. The blonde then settled into the Wind Stance of his Five Elements Style. His opponent was fast, Naruto just had to be faster, the wind stance was perfect for delivering fast and rapid strikes.

The blonde smirked slightly, he had equipped his taijutsu gloves made of steel mesh. It had been a gift from Danzo after he learned that Naruto had mastered the Five Elements Style. Naruto was reluctant to use a gift from Danzo, but he could not deny its usefulness, and it's deadliness when used in battle. The tight steel mesh provided his hands ample protection against sharp weapons, and also gave his punches the a sharp edge, allowing his fists to shave off flesh. Against a kenjutsu user, these gloves were perfect.

The white-haired teen noted Naruto's dropped weapon with slight interest before returning to their battle. Initiating the combat, he sped forward, and readied his sword to strike. "Tsubaki no mai." He then stabbed chaotically and continuously at Naruto. Once again, the blonde was remindede of his opponent's agility and dexterity with his sword, as several stabs had forced him to use Kazenui to avoid the sword.

Tired of evading, Naruto stepped forward disappeared, reappearing by the teen's flank. By the time Kimimaro turned towards him, Naruto had already delivered three jabs and a hook to his face that knocked him away. Unrelenting on his attack, Naruto dashed forward. Dodging the continued stabs, Naruto reappeared infront of the teen, performing a dozen quick jabs to his torso before twisting to the right to avoid his blade.

Naruto struck several key points of the boy's left arm : the wrist, forearm, elbow, bicep and shoulder, expecting him to cry out in pain. However, not a single flinch was rewarded even when his punches tore through his skin. That was when Naruto noticed a layer of white underneath his skin, not the usual pink and red bloody flesh.

His hesitation was taken advantage upon as Naruto was forced to block the incoming slash with both his hand. Caught off guard, Naruto had to jump backwards to avoid the slash that wold have taken his head. Settling into a defensive guard, Naruto now had the opportunity to fully examine his opponent. Naruto's initial punches had shredded his opponent's clothes, allowing Naruto full contact with the skin underneath. And though the skin was shaved off in many spots, not a single injury was bleeding, all had a white layer of protection underneath.

Naruto had also finally noticed his opponent's weapon. Instead of a regular katana or ninjato, his enemy was holding onto a short, bone hilted short sword. Remembering his studies, Naruto instantly realized what his enemy was. "A Kaguya, huh? Weren't you all extinct already?"

The Kaguya looked at him with unhidden disgust and distaste.

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto charged forward. Obviously his wind stance wasn't doing any significant damage to his enemy, with the bone armor underneath his skin. Naruto flashed through two handseals and his skin darkened. _'Doton : Domu!' _Taking a firm stance, Naruto delivered a strong punch that broke through the Kaguya's block and sent him flying ten feet away. The unexpectedly strong attack had caught him unaware, it was a surprise Naruto could only take advantage of once.

Completely different from the Wind Stance, the Earth Stance was almost purely defensive, relying on a rock solid guard and heavy counter attacks to take down enemies, in combination with Earth Spear, made the earth stance one of Naruto's most relied upon taijutsu style. Taking a rigid, defensive stance, Naruto glared at his opponent, daring him to approach him.

While Naruto and the Kaguya had fought, Shikamaru and Sai had already cleaned up the rest of the enemies. With only the injured left, it was a simple task to knock them unconscious to take them prisoner.

The Kaguya picked himself up, eyes narrowing. Realizing the blonde was not going to come for him, he went for Naruto instead. The white-haired teen's attacks fell futilely against Naruto's rock hard skin. Naruto sent a kick straight at the Kaguya's calf when an opening appeared, bringing him to his knees, allowing Naruto to aim a vicious kick right at his Adam's apple, intending to crush his throat. It would have worked, if not for the thin layer of bone the Kaguya had formed throughout his body that protected him against external forces.

The kick merely sent him flying and left him gagging for a few moments.

Naruto again took on a penseive look. The bone armor was becoming rather annoying, and since it covered his body almost completely, taijutsu seemed to be useless aginst the Kaguya. Releasing the Earth Spear technique, Naruto turned to his favourite ninja art, Ninjutsu. Forming a few handseals, Naruto took a deep breath and his chest and cheeks swelled up. _'Suiton : Teppodama'. _A large, high speed condensed water bullet flew towards the Kaguya, smashing him against a tree.

Naruto immediately continued, flashing through handseals and smashing his palms on the ground, "**Doton : Ganchuri (Earth Pillar Prison)**!" A dozen rock pillars rose vertically around the Kaguya, trapping him within. Following up with a sealless jutsu, Naruto cried out, "**Doton Raiton : Iwachuuseki Raikinko** **(Earth Pillar Lightning Imprisonment**)"Bolts of lightning flashed between the pillars before striking at the Kaguya, causing muffled screams of pain.

Before Naruto could finish him however, the pillar exploded outwards, as a figure jumped out of the prison. Now with definite scorch marks and an angry glare, the teen exploded towards Naruto, eyes promising pain. They exchanged quick strikes, the Kaguya with his sword and Naruto with his fists.

The Kagya suddenly dashed into Naruto's guard, way too close for comfort, "Yanagi no mai" Abandoning his bone sword, several long and _sharp_ bones grew out of his palms, elbows, knees and shoulders. The attack took Naruto by surprise, allowing one bone on the teen's shoulder to puncture Naruto's own right shoulder as the Kaguya dashed forward.

Spinning in his place, the Kaguya's bones left two more nasty gashes, one on his torso and the other on his left bicep. When the white-haired teen continued with his attack using the bones protruding from his palms, Naruto caught his wrist and snapped a kick that _should_ have broken his ribs, but only launched him away.

Immediately attempting to heal his wound his a medical ninjutsu, Naruto turned to glare at Sai and Shikamaru, who had taken a step forward when they saw Naruto injured. Shikamaru was slightly surprised, after so many missions with Naruto, he had never once seen him injured. Naruto put a hand up, signifying them that this fight was his and his alone.

The pale Kaguya got up and realized that all his subordinates were all either dead or captured. This was not good, Orochimaru-sama would be so disappointed. At the thought of disappointing Orochimaru, the Kaguya frowned. Taking off his top that was already torn up in most places, he focused chakra into the cursed seal on his chest. Immediately, the seal branched out and spread throughout his body, covering it in a rip-like pattern.

"You are rather skilled for trash. My name is Kaguya Kimimaro, and you have inconvenience me long enough." The now identified Kimimaro's body arched and unleashed several bones that protruded through his skin. Now, his body was covered in bones pointing outwards. "Karamatsu no mai." Was all he said before he launched himself towards Naruto.

Realizing it would be dangerous to engage in close combat, Naruto flashed through two handseals, Tiger then Dog. "**Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku (Vacuum Great Sphere)" **Naruto inhaled deeply and expelled a single, large crushing sphere of wind chakra that smashed against Kimimaro. Who, to his credit, was able to stand against the unrelenting force and dispersed the technique with a sharp swing of all his bone blades on his body, receiving a few dozen cuts in return.

Not allowing Kimimaro to continue on, Naruto flashed through handseals again, Rat, Snake, Horse, Snake, Dog. "**Fūton: Shinkū Renpa (Vacuum Serial Waves)" **This time, Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled several large blades of wind at different angles, by rapidly moving their head in various directions. This forced Kimimaro to further power his Karamatsu no mai with more chakra, creating even more blades of bone. Turning in an elegant circle, Kimimaro fended off the unyielding wind blades.

This gave Naruto some precious time, he fished out a kunai. Muttering, "**Fūton: Shinkūjin (Vacuum Blade)**" he exhaled wind-infused chakra onto kunai in order to increase its sharpness, range and lethality, turning it into makeshift scimitar. Just as Kimimaro deflected the last of the wind blades, Naruto dashed forward and delivered a long gash at his shoulder that nearly sliced off Kimimaro's right arm.

Widening his eyes in shock and pain, Kimimaro jumped back, knowing his right arm was now useless.

Naruto refused to let Kimimaro have any time to rest.** "Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni (Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson)" **He unleashed a volley of shuriken with one hand while at the same time forming a tiger handseal with the other, exhaling fire-infused chakra to increase the weapons' destructive potential by making them capable of inflicting severe burns upon direct contact, furthermore propelling them forward with much higher speed than before.

With only one hand to deflect the shurikens, Kimimaro was forced to allow one or two to cut his body, while blocking the rest with the bone spikes still protruded out. The wound was instantly cauterized with the shuriken still embedded in the flesh. The excrutiating pain caused Kimimaro to grunt in agony.

The Kaguya turned his attention away from the pain when a sudden bright glow filled the clearing. Naruto was holding on to his right hand as a mass of focused, blue lightning chakra covered it. Naruto turned towards Kimimaro and looked into his eyes, before pushing forward in a burst of speed, yelling "Raikiri!"

Before Kimimaro could react, Naruto rammed his hand into the Kaguya's chest, his hand reaching emerging through his back, penetrating through the bone blades as well as the bone armor. Kimimaro looked down at the hand that was buried in his chest up to the elbow, as a trail of blood dripped down his chin.

Naruto tore his hand out of Kimimaro's chest as a gout of blood splattered across his face. Turning away from the Kaguya, he smirked as he heard a loud thud, signifying the teen falling on to the ground. He took a few steps before hearing something from behind.

"Not… yet… Trash…"

Widening his eyes, Naruto turned back to witness something akin to a transformation from human to monster as Kimimaro slowly stood up. The rip-like pattern was now gone, his pale white skin was replaced by a dark brownish red color. His originally white hair turned dark grey dark markings covered his eyes, which had turned from vivid green to eyes with a black sclera and a yellow iris. Furthermore, several large bones protruded from his back along with a dinosaur-like tail. The wounds he had received were now partially healed, looking like raw, nasty scars. The large wound in the middle of his chest was now sealed up with a white substance, most likely liquified calcium, Naruto assumed.

Kimimaro reached back and gritted his teeth as a bone hilt slowly pushed its way out of the back of his neck. "**Tessenka no Mai: Tsuru (Dance of the Clematis: Vine**)" Gripping it, the Kaguya ripped out his entire spinal column, instantly regrowing a new spine to replace it. The cartilage in between the vertebral cloumn allowed the spine to bend as if it were a whip as Kimimaro pulled back and it whipped across the field towards Naruto.

With the wind-chakra imbued kunai laying nearby stabbed in the floor when Naruto abandoned it to perform the fire shuriken, he rolled towards it and to slice in to the whip as it reached him. Naruto continued, slicing up the Kimimaro's spinal column as he continued towards him. Once Naruto was within reaching distance, he abandoned the kunai while the other hand formed a familiar ball of chakra. However, the technique looked fairly similar to an ordinary Rasengan, except it had four small white blade like protrusions surrounding it. "Fūton: Rasengan!"

Slamming it against Kimimaro's torso, Naruto pushed him downwards on to the ground, letting the full effects of the wind elemental Rasengan dig in to his body. With all the air knocked out of Kimimaro's lungs, he quickly spat out blood as the technique continued to rotate sharply against his gut. The ground underneath Kimimaro cracked and a small crater eventually formed as the Rasengan slowly losed power, revealing a bloody, and bruised wound.

With a sigh of relief, Naruto took a step back, only for Kimimaro to suddenly sink in to the ground.

'_I'm sorry Orochimaru-sama, I might not be able to return to you…' _With a burst of the vile chakra from Orochimaru's cursed seal, Kimimaro shouted from beneath the ground, "Sawarabi no mai!" Countless bones as tall as trees burst out from underground, thousands, no tens of thousands of them.

The technique had completely caught Naruto off guard, allowing one to shoot up next to him, cutting in to his right chest. Both Shikamaru and Sai had jumped up before the root ninja created an Ink bird for both of them to land on.

Naruto fell to one knee, nursing the large gash that opened up his chest. Next to him, Kimimaro emerged from one of the trees of bone, his right arm covered in a drill made of bone, enhanced to the highest degree of maximum strength and solidity, "Tessenka no Mai: Hana!" The shout alerted Naruto to Kimimaro's precense, his body half way out, his weapon ready to skewer through him.

Forcing his body to the limits to react, Naruto strained half the muscles in his body to twist towards Kimimaro, flipping out one of his butterfly knives and parried against the bone drill, the sharp buzzing of wind chakra the only thing that prevented the enormous drill from crushing the tiny knife. Naruto cursed and jumped on to one of the large bones. Time and time again, he had landed a fatal attack, only for this Kimimaro to get up again and again. But not this time…

Running up the bone tree, Naruto jumped high up in the air and formed two kage bunshin beside him. The three Narutos flashed through handseals.

The first kage bunshin finished and yelled : "**Katon : Hiryuu Entei**!"

The second kage bunshin finished and yelled : "**Raiton: Rairyuu Kaminarikou**!"

The original finished and yelled : "**Fuuton : Fuuryu Kaze Ou**!"

A massive dragon made of sharp blades of wind burst out from looking like a dragon made of typhoons and hurricanes. Another was looked like it was made of solid lightning, it's entire length covered in crackling yellow lightning. The thid was formed completely of fire, an unbearable wave of heat swept through the area, signifying how strong the fires making up the dragon was.

The three crashed together to fuse into a single titanic mixture of wind, fire and lightning. "DIE ALREADY!** Katon Raiton Fuuton Combi : San Genso Ryu Arashi! (Three Elemental Dragon Storm)" **The massive inferno of white hot flames, thunder and lightning reduced the clearing into a field of scorched earth, incinerating the vast forest of bone. Shikamaru and Sai was lucky to have flown away when Kimimaro had used Sawarabi no mai, or even they would have been caught up in the monstrous firestorm.

Naruto landed on the top of the single bone tree still left standing, before mustering all his chakra into his leg muscles and jump towards the ink bird that was currently flying towards him. Once Sai caught him, Naruto fell on his back, breathing heavily. That was the single most difficult fight he had ever experienced. '_Kimimaro Kaguya huh…. I will remember you._'

As they flew away, they did not see a young man with silver grey hair wearing a pair of circular glasses slinking away, wondering how he was to tell Orochimaru his right-hand man, Kimimaro had been killed.

T.H.E. H.E.R.O'S. B.R.O.T.H.E.R

And that's the end of The Hero's Brother Chapter 12.5. Hope you enjoyed it! I really liked writing the fight scenes, though it has been awhile so the actions might seem a little awkward. I'm not sure when the next chapter for THB will be released. As stated before, I will be rather busy throughout this year, and the next. School, work, studies, tests and exams, thus is the life of a student. Thank you everybody who supported this story since the beginning, and especially those who has been sending me PMs demanding for a new chapter. I really don't mind it, on the contrary, I think it's very flattering. For those of you who are sick of waiting for a new chapter, and likes reading Harry Potter fics, check out my HP fanfiction, Shadow of the Snake! Love it, Hate it, Review it.

_Seriously, Review._

_Well if you don't, I know where you live. I know where you sleep. And your parents won't recognize you when I am done. (Evil Laughter) _


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